VOA常速英语2007-Experts Cite Slow Progress Toward Tsunami Warnin

By Trish Anderton
Jakarta
31 October 2007

Nearly three years after the massive Indian Ocean tsunami¹, Indonesia has only one working tsunami-warning buoy² in place.  Trish Anderton reports from Jakarta.

Plans call for more than 20 buoys³ to monitor seismic⁴ activity off the Indonesian coast by the end of 2008.  Dr. Fauzi heads the tsunami division at Indonesia's Meteorological and Geophysical Agency, and he says only three have been installed, and two are now being repaired.

"In 2006, Germany install two buoys but because of the problem they have in mooring⁵ of the buoys they need to fix [them]," he said.  "Then in a couple of weeks they are going to install another couple of buoys."

At a panel discussion of disaster preparedness with journalists Wednesday, Fauzi said 18 siren towers have been erected⁶ along Indonesia's west coast to sound the warning in case of a tsunami.

One concern is Sumatra's second largest city, Padang.  The fault that produced the 2004 tsunami thrusts southward just off the city's coast, and many seismologists think recent upheavals⁷ along this line are likely to continue.

Most of Padang's 800,000 inhabitants live close to the shore and there are few hills to run to if a tsunami hits.  Michael Rottman of UNESCO's Disaster Information Center told journalists the city government is working on plans for tsunami refuges.

"There is a lot of thought about building taller buildings, building hills or something but of course you have to find locations or send people away who live there," he noted⁸.  "So it is a very difficult situation."

Rottman says traffic is another worry.  Some people argue it would be better not to give tsunami warnings in Padang, because the resulting panic on overcrowded roads could needlessly claim lives if a big wave fails to appear. 

But Rottman sounded an optimistic note, saying the residents and government of Padang have become more alert about the possibility of a tsunami.

"Over the last two three years, consciousness of people have been changed, and this work is going to continue," he added. "All the organizations who started it do not say we are finished yet.  A lot more activities have to be done." 

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami claimed about 230,000 lives throughout the region, with Aceh Province in Indonesian suffering the most deaths.  Last year the United Nations began a tsunami warning system for the entire Indian Ocean region, with an improved seismographic network and a round-the-clock information network to distribute alerts.

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 buoy   

n.浮标；救生圈；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The party did little to buoy up her spirits.这次聚会并没有让她振作多少。
• The buoy floated back and forth in the shallow water.这个浮标在浅水里漂来漂去。

3 buoys   

n.浮标( buoy的名词复数 )；航标；救生圈；救生衣v.使浮起( buoy的第三人称单数 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神

参考例句：

• The channel is marked by buoys. 航道有浮标表示。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Often they mark the path with buoys. 他们常常用浮标作为航道的标志。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 mooring   

n.停泊处；系泊用具，系船具；下锚v.停泊，系泊（船只）(moor的现在分词)

参考例句：

• However, all the best mooring were occupied by local fishing boats. 凡是可以泊船的地方早已被当地渔船占去了。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• Her mind was shaken loose from the little mooring of logic that it had. 就像小船失去了锚，她的思绪毫无逻辑地四处漂浮，一会为这个想法难受，一会为那个念头生气。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

6 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

7 upheavals   

突然的巨变( upheaval的名词复数 )； 大动荡； 大变动； 胀起

参考例句：

• the latest upheavals in the education system 最近教育制度上的种种变更
• These political upheavals might well destroy the whole framework of society. 这些政治动乱很可能会破坏整个社会结构。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。