小练习 9.9

The earthquake of magnitude 6.8 which has hit central Morocco is the biggest the area has seen since before 1900.

摩洛哥中部发生的里氏6.8级地震是1900年以来该地区所现的最大震级地震。

More than 1,000 people have died in the quake, which struck at 23:11 local time on Friday.

The epicentre was in the High Atlas Mountains, 71km (44 miles) south-west of Marrakesh, at a depth of 18.5km, the US Geological Survey said. The main tectonic driver is the collision between the plates that carry the European and African continents.

在这场发生于当地时间周五23：11的地震中，有1000多名群众失去了生命。

美国地质调查局称，本次地震震中地处高阿特拉斯山脉，位于马拉喀什西南方71千米（44英里），震源深度18.5千米。主要的地质成因则是亚欧板块和非洲板块间的碰撞。

This quake will be related to the thrusting and faulting that continues to push up the Atlas Mountains. But Morocco is not really the place where such powerful earthquakes occur.

Most of the earthquake activity from this slow (4mm/year) geological "car crash" is further east in the Mediterranean, around Italy, Greece and towards Turkey.

虽然本次地震与不断将阿特拉斯山脉拔高的版块挤压和断层作用相关，但摩洛哥并没有处在容易发生这种大规模地震的位置。

大多数由这个缓慢的（4毫米/年）地理”车祸“所导致的地震现象都发生在远在东边的地中海沿岸，即意大利、希腊和土耳其附近。

In terms of history, there has been nothing bigger than a magnitude 6.0 within 500km (300 miles) of Friday night's epicentre since before 1900.

This unfamiliarity of this has consequences. The quake memory in the population will be limited and so will have been the preparedness.

根据历史，自1900年以来，在此次震中的房源500千米（300英里）之内没有发生过比本次震级更大的地震。

这种现象之稀有也带来了严重后果。在摩洛哥所有人口中拥有大地震经历的人寥寥无几，而该国针对大地震所作的准备则更是历历可数。

It is often also the case that quakes that hit at night have bigger death tolls, as people are more likely to be inside collapsing buildings.

The US Geological Survey runs a model that estimates the probable scale of the casualties and economic losses. It suggests for this event that the death toll could be in the high hundreds to low thousands.

同时，在夜间发生的地震往往也会带来更大的伤亡数字，因为人们被困在倒塌建筑中的几率会更大。

美国地质调查局通过建模分析了可能的人员伤亡和经济损失规模。其结果是，这次地震造成的死亡人数可能会有数百人到数千人之间。

The current toll could therefore rise and there could be aftershocks. As a rule of thumb people could expect to see one that is about one magnitude less than the main shock. 

But even smaller tremors risk bringing down already damaged buildings.

因此，目前的死亡人数有可能还会上升，并且此后可能还会有余震。依据经验，人们可能还会经历一次比主震震级小的地震。

然而，一点轻微的颤动都有很大可能让已经受损的建筑物彻底坍塌。