Much of what people talk about in day-to-day life
revolves around current events, whether local or worldwide. In the past
few weeks, there has been much talk about a series of events that caught
the attention and concern of many people: earthquakes. Recently, there
have been major earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan, and in the
previous year, many other nations dealt with the destruction earthquakes
and tsunamis bring. Let’s learn a little bit about these natural disasters and what we can do to protect ourselves.
Earthquakes are caused by movements of the earth. The surface of the earth is made up of tectonic plates,
like sections of a puzzle. They move around and bump into one another,
and sometimes if one moves a lot, it causes an earthquake. Places where
these plates come together are called faults.
Most earthquakes occur along these fault lines, which is why some
places seem to have earthquakes regularly, while other places never do.
If the movement of the plates is very small, the earthquake might not
even be noticeable, but if it is very large, it can be very destructive.
The recent earthquake in Honshu, Japan was the fourth largest
earthquake in the world since 1900. These extremely large earthquakes
can also cause another frightening disaster: a tsunami. How?
When two plates under water move in just the right way,
they can push the water up very quickly, creating an enormous wave
called a tsunami. These waves can travel at hundreds of miles an hour,
and although they aren’t very tall, when they reach shallow water, they
slow down and increase in size and can devastate coastal cities.
How can you protect yourself? Earthquakes come
unexpectedly, but you can protect yourself by finding security in the
right place. Stand under something sturdy
if you are inside, away from the outside of the building. Being under
something is your greatest protection, especially for protecting your
head and neck. If outside, try to find an open area where things nearby
will not crumble or fall over. Tsunamis are sometimes predicted or warned, so people have time to evacuate. If the water at the beach suddenly recedes very far, it is a signal there may be a tsunami on the way. Head for high ground!
These are some simple facts about two very frightening
natural disasters that people are seeing around the world more and
more. You will hopefully not only be able to talk about them, but also
protect yourself from them!
(1) disaster ( n. 名詞 ) 災害
It took the city a long time to recover from the natural disaster.
重建被天災侵略過的城市需要一段長時間。
(2) tectonic plate ( n. 名詞 ) 地殼板塊
There are seven or eight major tectonic plates that make up the earth’s crust.
地殼是由七或八大塊地殼板塊所組成的。
(3) fault (line) ( n. 名詞 ) 斷層
The San Andreas Fault is a famous fault line in California.
加州最有名的斷層是聖安德利亞斷層。
(4) destructive ( adj. 形容詞 ) 破壞性的；毀滅性的
The hurricane was very destructive.
颶風是具有高破壞性的。
(5) wave ( n. 名詞 ) 浪；波浪
The waves crashed against the shore.
海浪打到岸邊。
(6) devastate ( v. 動詞 ) 使荒蕪；使垮掉
The city was devastated by the earthquake.
地震使城市垮掉。
(7) sturdy ( adj. 形容詞 ) 健壯的；結實的；堅固的
The house was very sturdy and was not damaged in the storm.
這個房子很堅固，才沒有在暴風雨中受到損害。
(8) crumble ( v. 動詞 ) 粉碎；弄碎
The buildings crumbled during the earthquake.
建築物被地震弄碎了。
(9) recede ( v. 動詞 ) 退；後退
I watched him recede into the distance.
我看著他向後退到有距離。
(10) frightening ( adj. 形容詞 ) 令人恐懼、驚嚇的
It is very frightening to wait through a hurricane.
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