Tsunamis

Tsunamis, written by Sean Taylor.

《海啸》，肖恩·泰勒 著

The Indian Ocean Tsunami. On December 26, 2004, a powerful earthquake shook the ocean floor near the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. People in nearby villages felt the earth shake. They didn't know that within minutes, a massive wave known as a tsunami would flood their homes. The giant wall of moving water washed away entire towns. Within hours, the waves had pounded thousands of miles of coast in Indonesia, India, Africa, Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, and Singapore, among others.

印度洋海啸 2004年12月26日，印尼苏门答腊岛附近海域的海底发生了强烈地震 附近村庄的人们都感受到了地面震动 他们不知道，短短几分钟后，一场名为海啸的巨浪就会淹没他们的家园 巨大的水墙冲走了整座整座城镇 几小时内，海浪就冲击了印尼、印度、非洲、泰国、孟加拉国、马来西亚、马尔代夫、缅甸、新加坡等多国数千英里的海岸线

People around the world were stunned each day as the reported death toll increased from 20 ,000 to 100 ,000 to 226 ,000. We will probably never know how many people died because many bodies were buried by the mud and debris or washed out to sea. Scientists think that the death toll would have been lower if more people had known about the danger of tsunamis and how to escape them.

公布的死亡人数从两万涨到十万，最终达到二十二万六千，全世界每日都为此震惊 我们可能永远无法知道准确的遇难人数，因为许多遗体被泥土碎石掩埋，或是被冲进了大海 科学家认为，如果更多人提前了解海啸的危险和逃生方法，死亡人数本会低很多

History of tsunamis. The word tsunami is Japanese and means harbor wave. It originated with Japanese fishermen who would return to port to find their towns destroyed by unusually large ocean waves that they hadn't even noticed while out at sea. Tsunamis can be devastating when they occur. Fortunately, they are very rare. There are usually six major tsunamis every 100 years worldwide. In 1883, in Indonesia, the volcano Krakatoa exploded and caused a tsunami that killed 36 ,000 people. In 1958, a landslide in Alaska splashed into Latuya Bay, creating a wave 1 ,720 feet, 524 .26 meters high. An earthquake off the coast of Chile caused a tsunami in 1960, devastating parts of South America, Hawaii, and Japan.

海啸的历史 "海啸"一词源自日语，意思是港湾波浪 它的由来和日本渔民有关：渔民出海时完全没察觉到海浪，回港却发现城镇已经被超大海浪摧毁 海啸一旦发生，破坏力极强 幸运的是，海啸非常罕见 全球平均每一百年大约会发生六次大型海啸 1883年，印尼喀拉喀托火山喷发引发海啸，造成三万六千人遇难 1958年，阿拉斯加的山体滑坡坠入拉图亚湾，形成了高达524.26米（合1720英尺）的巨浪 1960年，智利海岸外发生地震引发海啸，摧毁了南美、夏威夷和日本的部分区域

Causes of Tsunamis Earthquakes on the ocean floor cause most tsunamis. Underwater landslides, volcanic explosions, and meteor impacts also cause tsunamis. Not every earthquake in or near the ocean causes a tsunami. It depends on the strength of the earthquake and the kind of movement that occurs in Earth's crust. An earthquake has to be at least 6 .75 on the Richter scale to result in a tsunami. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 was caused by a mega earthquake with a magnitude of 9 .0.

海啸的成因 大多数海啸都是海底地震引发的 海底滑坡、火山喷发和陨石撞击也会引发海啸 并不是每一次海洋或近海地震都会引发海啸 这取决于地震的强度，以及地壳运动的类型 只有里氏震级至少达到6.75级的地震，才会引发海啸 2004年印度洋海啸，就是9.0级超强地震引发的

Tsunamis are sometimes called tidal waves because they rush in like a high tide. But in truth, they have nothing to do with tides. Tsunamis are also different from normal surface waves caused by wind. Surface waves tend to roll onto shore in a circular motion.

海啸有时被叫做潮汐波，因为它会像涨潮一样涌上岸 但实际上，海啸和潮汐一点关系都没有 海啸也和风掀起的普通海面波浪不一样 普通海浪一般是以圆周运动的方式翻滚上岸