纪录片《为何无法预测地震》 第15期:断层滑移（在线收听）

Every time that Roger's machine

每一次 罗杰的仪器

measures the fault slipping,

测量断层的滑移

known as a creep event,

也被称作蠕变

this may help to calculate the amount of stress

可以帮助计算 在这座城市下面

that's building up beneath the city.

正在积聚的能量

Oh, we've got a creep event! How exciting.

我们检测到了蠕变现象 太高兴了

The black line here is, er, can you see that OK?

这条黑线是... 你看见了吗

So the black line is the temperature decrease

这条黑线显示 气温从仲夏

from mid-summer to... It's upside down, OK,

开始下降 上下颠倒了

we could actually turn it up the other way

我们可以这样来看

but let's do it like that,

还是这样吧

so there's the temperature decreasing as a function of time

气温的下降是由于季节的变化

and here is, er, a creep event

这个就是蠕变现象

where the fault suddenly starts slipping

当断层突然开始

at a few millimetres per second and

以每秒几毫米的速度滑移

then over the next day or two,

并持续一两天

in fact continuing for several weeks.

实际上会连续好几个星期

Even if you'd been standing on the fault,

就算你站在这个断层上

you wouldn't have noticed it

你都感觉不到

because it's really a very slow, quiet process.

因为它非常缓慢 悄然无声

So until people have put

所以 只有当人们将这种仪器

instruments like this on the ground,

放到地里

we had no idea that these things were occurring.

否则我们无法知道这一切的发生