VOA常速英语2014--美国加利福尼亚州发生6.0级地震 余震无法预测（在线收听）

Northern California Quake: No Way to Know When Next One Will Hit 美国加利福尼亚州发生6.0级地震 余震无法预测

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake rocked northern California’s Napa Valley on Sunday.  Roads twisted and water mains burst.  It was the wine country’s most severe quake in 15 years, and while hospitals treated many people, no one was killed.

This was the scene on Sunday in northern California's Napa Valley. A magnitude 6 earthquake.

这是周日在加州北部纳帕谷的景象。这里发生了6.0级的地震。

“The magnitude of the earthquake reflects how much of the earth's crust ruptured. It's really an expression of the total energy that's released when a part of the earth's crust breaks apart."

“地震的震级反映的是地壳的破裂程度。当地壳破裂全部能量就会以这种方式释放。”

David Applegate is Associate Director for Natural Hazards at the U.S. Geological Survey.

美国地质调查局自然灾害部门的副主任大卫·阿普尔盖特说道。

“We are fortunate that we didn't see a lot of impacts to water infrastructure… A lot of the losses in earthquakes are from fires often because water mains have been broken, and there's no way to fight them."

“很幸运的是,这次地震没有对水利基础设施造成太大影响…过往多次地震造成的损失往往因为总水管损坏,没有办法扑灭火势。”

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Applegate says the timing of the event may have saved a lot of lives.

阿普尔盖特表示地震中的时间可能会挽救很多性命。

“It happened in the middle of the night. We saw a lot of cases where old brick buildings collapsed onto sidewalks. Those sidewalks were empty."

“这次地震在半夜发生。我们看到很多例子，旧砖建筑损坏倒塌到人行道上。而当时人行道上没有人。”

A stroke of good luck, because Applegate says earthquakes are a bit of a surprise.

这是突如其来的好运，因为阿普尔盖特表示地震总是有点意外。

“Short-term prediction is not feasible, but what we do know is where large earthquakes occur."

“短期预测不可行,但我们所清楚的是大地震发生的地方。”

Which means that scientists can predict percentage likelihood that a major quake will hit a given area over the next, few decades. When one begins, though, scientists can warn those in its path.

这意味着在未来,几十年内科学家可以预测大地震将在一个既定区域发生的百分比可能性。当一次地震出现,科学家们可以警告那些在其路径的人。

“Once an earthquake starts in one place, we can actually get the characteristics of the event and get an alert out ahead of the strong shaking."

“一旦地震在一个地方开始,我们可以了解它的特点并且在强震前向人们发出警告。”

Applegate says the warning is not too far ahead of the quake, but 10 or 20 seconds may be enough to save your life.

阿普尔盖特表示地震前警告不会太早,但就是这10几20秒就足以挽救你的生命。

“Certainly you can get underneath a sturdy piece of furniture. Drop, cover and hold on."

“当然你可以躲在坚固的家具下面。蹲下,寻找掩护,坚持住。”

Like anything, he says it's a good idea to have a plan that includes fresh water and how to find loved ones after the disaster.

他表示比如有个包括淡水及灾后如何找到所爱之人的计划是个好主意。

“Your quality of life after the event is really dependent on what you've done to plan before the event."

“灾后你的生活质量真的要取决于之前你所做的计划。”

While the people of northern California may have dodged a bullet in what could have been a far more damaging quake...others have cause for celebration, too. It seems that Napa Valley will continue exporting barrels of wine as normal. That's likely part of the survival plan, too.

虽然加州北部的人民可能已经侥幸躲过可能造成更多破坏的这次地震,其他人也有值得因此庆贺的理由。看来纳帕谷将继续一如既往的出口桶装酒。这也是可能生存计划的一部分。