Death Toll Rises in Turkey Quake

 　　Rescuers in Turkey have pulled several more survivors¹ from the rubble² in the aftermath of Sunday's earthquake that officials say killed 279 people and injured more than 1,000 others.

　　Officials say the magnitude 7.2 quake near Turkey's border with Iran did the most damage in the town of Ercis, about 90 kilometers north of the city of Van. The death toll³ from the quake is expected to rise.

　　Hundreds of rescuers worked through the night with heavy equipment to lift fallen slabs⁴ of concrete hoping to find survivors. The government says dozens of large buildings collapsed⁵ in the quake.

　　The earthquake shut down electricity and water in several areas. More than 100 aftershocks have shaken the area since the quake hit, including one with a magnitude of 6.1.

　　Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the area Sunday. He said mud-brick homes in nearby villages had all been flattened⁶.

　　World leaders sent condolences and offers of help to Turkey. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and President Serzh Sarkisian of Armenia made a joint⁷ phone call to Turkish President Abdullah Gul to express their sympathies.

　　Countries, including the United States and Israel, have offered their help. U.S. President Barack Obama said Sunday the U.S. will stand "shoulder to shoulder" with Turkey during this difficult time.

　　United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was saddened to learn of the loss of life from Sunday's quake. He praised Turkish authorities for their rapid response to the disaster and said the U.N. remains⁸ ready to offer help, if requested. Turkey has not yet called for international aid to help with the crisis.

　　Officials say the wreckage⁹ includes hotels and a dormitory. Survivors said cries from those trapped in the rubble were heard hours after the quake. The mayor of Ercis issued a call for urgent aid, saying there were many dead.

　　Television footage shows collapsed buildings and crushed vehicles in Van, and people using shovels¹⁰ and pry¹¹ bars to claw through wreckage for survivors.

　　Major geological fault lines cross the region and small earthquakes are a frequent occurrence.

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 slabs   

n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片

参考例句：

• The patio was made of stone slabs. 这天井是用石板铺砌而成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The slabs of standing stone point roughly toward the invisible notch. 这些矗立的石块，大致指向那个看不见的缺口。 来自辞典例句

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

10 shovels   

n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
• In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天，我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句

11 pry   

vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起)

参考例句：

• He's always ready to pry into other people's business.他总爱探听别人的事。
• We use an iron bar to pry open the box.我们用铁棍撬开箱子。