万花筒 2011-03-14&03-16 日本地震有多严重？

 We are talking now to Dr. Michio Kaku, our friend from City University of New York, Physicist¹. Just as important, you have friends and family in Japan, you've been in contact with them? 

 

That's right. We tried to call them on the telephone. And they told me, first of all, they saw entire Tokyo metro² system is knocked down. One of my relatives can't go home. He has to walk home. And the taxi lines... Can you imagine New York City parallels 10 million people waiting for a taxi? The airports are out. You can't get out. The phone lines are dead, we can't even contact our relatives any more. One relative told me that she was walking down Ginza, downtown Tokyo, she could actually see the building sway. Can you imagine? 

 

They were built to stand the earthquakes. 

 

That's right, they are built to actually sway with the earthquake. But can you imagine walking down Fifth Avenue and see the Empire State Building sway? That's what you see now in Japan. 

 

Let's talk a little bit more about what is going on here beneath. Eh...So you nodding your head when the Meri Honolulu was telling Elisabeth that these waves are very unpredictable. 

 

Very unpredictable. They travel at jetliner speed, 500 to 700 miles per hour. And the Pacific Ocean is a pond. A pond that compares to the enormous energy released that surges right across the Pacific. And it's gonna hit the United States, it's gonna hit Hawaii. And that' why we are very concerned about damage. Remember that the tsunami³ in Japan when a mile inland. Can you imagine a mile inland of the coast of a very heavily populated area? 

 

What is it about this ring of fire that we're all beginning to learn so much about? 

 

Yeah, 90% of our earthquakes take place in this ring of fire from Philippines up to Japan, up to the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, California, Chile. Remember the Chilean earthquake just a few years ago? The axis⁴ of the earth itself shifted slightly because of the Chilean earthquake. This earthquake is on that scale, that's the ring of fire where most earthquakes are concentrated. 

 

We've already seen 19 aftershocks as small earthquakes as due to reported. Also in Hawaii this morning, 4.5. Shall we expect more aftershocks? 

 

I think we should. Yes. Definitely there will be more aftershocks. Every time you have a big one, another aftershock comes very soon after that. Already the people in Japan are bracing⁵ for the next one. 

 

Bracing for the next one. OK. Dr. Michio Kaku. Thanks very much!

1 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

2 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

3 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

4 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

5 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。