Death toll in Guatemalan earthquake rises to 52

Death toll¹ in Guatemalan earthquake rises to 52

 GUATEMALA CITY, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina on Thursday confirmed that the death toll of the 7.4- magnitude earthquake rose to 52, 22 people remain missing, and 1.2 million others were affected².

"The number of people (dead) is rising, officially we have 52 dead, 22 missing, and rescue workers are searching the rubble," Molina told a press conference at the National Coordinator³ for Disaster Reduction (Conrad).

The president also declared three days of national mourning for the quake victims.

According to the president, 70 aftershocks have been recorded in the last 24 hours, and data from the Institute of Seismology showed that the earthquake have not released all the energy so more aftershocks are expected in the coming hours.

He said that the most worrying situation is cracking in several roads and mountains of western Guatemala, and recommended citizens not to travel in these regions, saying "I'm about to sign the decree to declare a state of calamity⁴ in the affected departments. "

According to official figures, 5,251 house were damaged, 2,962 people were evacuated⁵ and 752 people now live in shelters.

The Conrad said that among the damaged houses, 554 homes were completely destroyed, 2,263 were uninhabitable, 2,000 have some sort of damage, 180 at risk of falling and 138 with minor⁶ damage.

So far the Guatemalan government has sent 44 tons of humanitarian⁷ aid to San Marcos province, the hardest hit area, and other provinces affected by the violent earthquake, which rocked the Pacific coast of the country on Wednesday.

On Feb. 4, 1976, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake left nearly 23,000 people dead, 76,000 wounded and more than a million people homeless in Guatemala.

1 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。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

4 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

5 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

6 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

7 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。