2006年VOA标准英语-Simulated Test of Pacific Tsunami System H

By Claudia Blume
Hong Kong
17 May 2006

The Pacific Tsunami¹ Warning System has been tested for the first time with a two-phase, region-wide drill, sending alerts about imaginary earthquakes and tsunamis² to dozens of countries. An extra bit of authenticity³ was added to the tests, when real earthquakes struck parts of the region.

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Bayu Pranata, who leads simulation of Tsunami Warning Center, points to monitor at Meteorology and Geophysical Agency in Jakarta  
  

A mock warning of a tsunami, triggered by an imaginary earthquake in the northern Philippines, put more than 20 countries in the Western Pacific and the South China Sea on high alert Wednesday morning.

A day earlier, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii and other sub-regional warning centers sent out warnings of a mock earthquake off the coast of central Chile.

The aim of the unprecedented⁴ two-day, Pacific-wide exercise - code-named "Pacific Wave 06" - was to avoid a repeat of the 2004 disaster in the Indian Ocean, where a tsunami left more than 200,000 people dead or missing. Experts say a functioning alert system then might have saved many lives.

Mark Sullivan, Australia-based chairman of the exercise task team, says testing is a key element in the success of a tsunami warning system.

"It's only through exercising and training, practice, that people become familiar with the arrangements and therefore can respond appropriately when a real event does occur," he explained.

The first stage of the exercise tested the dissemination⁵ of alert messages from tsunami warning centers in Hawaii and other places to national emergency authorities. Warnings were relayed in numerous ways, including e-mail, fax and text messages. The more than 30 countries participating in Tuesday's drill, in the Americas and the Central and South Pacific, all said they received the warnings.
 

Filipino villagers evacuate⁶ homes beside sign that reads 'Tsunami, This way to safe place'  
  
Participating countries were asked to simulate a national emergency response to the warnings. Some, such as Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, staged partial evacuations in coastal⁷ areas.

The exercise took on an air of reality when real earthquakes hit New Zealand and Indonesia on Tuesday, and Tonga on Wednesday. None of the earthquakes was strong enough to trigger real tsunami warnings, but they were a reminder⁸ of how volatile⁹ the region is.

William Erb is head of the coordination¹⁰ group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System in Perth, Australia. He says a warning system for the region hit by the 2004 tsunami has made considerable progress.

"Essentially¹¹ the sea-level network is in place, the seismic¹² system has been improved," he said, "the actual development of warning centers in the region has been worked on, several countries are building such centers, several countries are putting instruments in the water to do the detection - it's progressing very well."

The organizers of the exercise plan to hold regular Pacific-wide tsunami drills in the future.

1 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。

2 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句

3 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

4 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

5 dissemination   

传播,宣传,传染(病毒)

参考例句：

• The dissemination of error does people great harm. 谬种流传，误人不浅。
• He was fully bent upon the dissemination of Chinese culture all over the world. 他一心致力于向全世界传播中国文化。

6 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

7 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

8 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

9 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

10 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 seismic   

a.地震的，地震强度的

参考例句：

• Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.地震产生两种地震波。
• The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Kenya.肯尼亚北部也感觉到了最近的地震活动。