原文標(biāo)題：
Seismology
Stuck in the middle
Turkey sits at the crossroads of tectonic plates as well as civilisations
地震學(xué)
夾在中間
土耳其位于地殼板塊交界處，也處在文明的十字路口

The recent quake was the first magnitude-seven event on the East Anatolian fault in modern times
最近大地震是現(xiàn)代東安那托利亞斷層發(fā)生的第一次7級(jí)大地震

[Paragraph 1]
THE EARTHQUAKES that ripped across southern Turkey and northern Syria in the small hours of February 6th were among the most devastating of this century.
2月6凌晨土耳其南部和敘利亞北部發(fā)生了大地震，這是本世紀(jì)最具破壞性的地震之一。

Within three days of the disaster, the reported death toll surpassed 10,000.
據(jù)報(bào)道地震發(fā)生后3天內(nèi)，死亡人數(shù)超過(guò)了1萬(wàn)人。

This horrifying impact stems largely from shoddy construction practices and from the timing of the quake, which occurred while people were sleeping.
破壞力之大很大程度上是因?yàn)榻ㄖ毕莺偷卣鸢l(fā)生的時(shí)間。地震發(fā)生時(shí)，人們正在睡覺。

But any seismic event this powerful—the biggest quakes were of magnitude 7.8 and 7.5—would inflict grave damage.
但是，任何7.8級(jí)和7.5級(jí)這樣強(qiáng)震都會(huì)造成嚴(yán)重破壞。

Worldwide, only around 15 earthquakes of magnitude seven or greater happen each year.
在世界范圍內(nèi)，每年只發(fā)生了15次左右的7級(jí)及以上地震。

[Paragraph 2]

Although Turkey is far from the Pacific “ring of fire” that generates most of the world’s strongest earthquakes, its neighbourhood is unusually seismically active.

雖然土耳其遠(yuǎn)離太平洋“火環(huán)”帶（世界上最強(qiáng)烈的地震都發(fā)生在太平洋“火環(huán)”帶），但土耳其周邊地區(qū)的地震帶也異?；钴S。

Quakes tend to occur along the boundaries between tectonic plates, the segments of Earth’s crust that get moved around by convection currents in the hot mantle below.

地震往往發(fā)生在地殼板塊之間的邊界地帶。地殼板塊通過(guò)地殼下方的地幔熱對(duì)流而移動(dòng)。

Along the fault lines that separate plates, crustal rocks move slowly past each other, often sticking and jamming. This causes strain to accumulate until the fault slips, causing an earthquake.
地殼巖石沿著斷層線（板塊的分割線）彼此緩慢移動(dòng)，經(jīng)常發(fā)生粘連和堵塞。這使得巖層承受的壓力慢慢累積，最終斷層滑動(dòng)斷裂，引發(fā)地震。

[Paragraph 3]
The eastern Mediterranean has a particularly complex tectonic structure involving several “microplates”, including the Anatolian plate, on which most of Turkey sits.
東地中海的板塊結(jié)構(gòu)特別復(fù)雜，涉及幾個(gè)“微板塊”，包括土耳其大部分地區(qū)所在的安納托利亞微板塊。

A mere 100m years ago, this plate comprised part of the southern shore of a sea called Tethys, which separated Africa from Eurasia.
不過(guò)在1億年前，這塊板塊就構(gòu)成了特提斯海（古地中海）南海岸的一部分。特提斯海將非洲大陸與歐亞大陸隔開。

As this body of water closed up, leaving the Aral, Black, Caspian and Mediterranean seas as its only remnants, the Anatolian plate drifted north.
由于這片水域關(guān)閉，只留下咸海、黑海、里海和地中海的殘留海域，安納托利亞板塊向北漂移。

It then got squeezed between four others, including the Arabian plate to the south-east (which is migrating north) and the Eurasian plate to the north (which is moving south).
然后，安納托利亞板塊在4個(gè)板塊中被擠壓，包括東南部的阿拉伯板塊（向北移動(dòng)）和北部的歐亞板塊（向南移動(dòng)）。

Both of these plates are still pushing into their small Anatolian neighbour today.
這兩板塊如今也仍在擠壓隔壁的安納托利亞微板塊。

[Paragraph 4]

In the wake of a catastrophic earthquake near Istanbul in 1999, Turkish leaders vowed to improve seismic preparedness.

1999年伊斯坦布爾附近發(fā)生了災(zāi)難性大地震，土耳其領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人隨即發(fā)誓要加強(qiáng)防震減災(zāi)的準(zhǔn)備措施。

That tremor originated in the North Anatolian fault, the Anatolian plate’s boundary with the Eurasian plate, which has been the source of most of Turkey’s large quakes.

那次地震的震中位于北安納托利亞斷層（安納托利亞板塊與歐亞板塊的邊界帶）這是土耳其大型地震的頻發(fā)地帶。

In contrast, the East Anatolian fault, where it rubs up against the Arabian plate, had not seen a quake of at least magnitude seven since modern monitoring systems began in the late 19th century.
相比之下，自19世紀(jì)末現(xiàn)代監(jiān)測(cè)系統(tǒng)開始以來(lái)，與阿拉伯板塊相鄰的東安納托利亞斷層從未發(fā)生過(guò)7級(jí)以上的大地震。

[Paragraph 5]
Many other active fault systems, such as the Cascadia subduction zone in the north-western United States and south-western Canada, have gone centuries without an earthquake.

許多其他斷層帶，如美國(guó)西北部與加拿大西南部之間的卡斯卡迪亞俯沖帶，幾百年來(lái)都沒有發(fā)生過(guò)地震。

Such relative quiet does not necessarily indicate low seismic risk.

相對(duì)不活躍地帶并不一定意味著地震風(fēng)險(xiǎn)低。

Strain along the East Anatolian fault had been building up year after year, making the fault ripe for a cataclysm.
東安納托利亞斷層承受的壓力一年年加劇，直到大災(zāi)難的爆發(fā)。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語(yǔ)詞匯量465左右）
原文出自：2023年2月11日《The Economist》Graphic detail版塊。

精讀筆記來(lái)源于：自由英語(yǔ)之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene

本文編輯校對(duì): Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來(lái)自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
土耳其位于歐亞板塊、安納托利亞板塊、阿拉伯板塊和非洲板塊四個(gè)板塊的交匯處，因此地震頻發(fā)。

高壓藏地震成因理論:地球內(nèi)部特別是在地殼，由于斷裂作用、褶皺作用、沉積作用、溶巖作用等可以形成許多地質(zhì)空間。地球內(nèi)部的高壓熔融體和氣液體順著斷裂或其他通道就會(huì)進(jìn)入地質(zhì)空間形成高壓藏，在高壓作用下，空間隔層或空間圍巖就會(huì)發(fā)生彈起和撞擊作用，形成內(nèi)力地震。斷層線在地震之前就存在，是斷層沿線的壓力導(dǎo)致了地震。巖層承受的壓力慢慢累積，最終斷裂，于是就會(huì)發(fā)生地震。

特提斯海（Tethys）是位于北方勞亞古陸和南方岡瓦納古陸間長(zhǎng)期存在的古海洋? 。1893 年奧地利地質(zhì)學(xué)家E.修斯創(chuàng)用特提斯一詞，其源于古希臘神話中河海之神妻子的名字。由于類似其殘存的現(xiàn)代歐洲與非洲間的地中海，故又稱古地中?！，F(xiàn)代地中海是特提斯海的殘留海域。

1999年8月17日凌晨，土耳其中部和西部地區(qū)發(fā)生里氏7.4級(jí)強(qiáng)烈地震。11月12日晚，土西部地區(qū)又發(fā)生里氏7. 2級(jí)強(qiáng)烈地震。兩次大地震造成重大人員傷亡和財(cái)產(chǎn)損失，共有1.8萬(wàn)人喪生，4.3萬(wàn)多人傷殘，60萬(wàn)人無(wú)家可歸，經(jīng)濟(jì)損失達(dá)200億美元。震后共發(fā)生33次4級(jí)以上余震，最大5．3級(jí)。

卡斯卡迪亞俯沖帶（CSZ）是一個(gè)約1100公里的太平洋斷層，大致從南加利福尼亞州的門多西諾角開始，到加拿大不列顛哥倫比亞省的溫哥華島北部。

【重點(diǎn)句子】（3?個(gè)）
This horrifying impact stems largely from shoddy construction practices and from the timing of the quake, which occurred while people were sleeping.
破壞力之大很大程度上是因?yàn)榻ㄖ毕莺偷卣鸢l(fā)生的時(shí)間。地震發(fā)生時(shí)，人們正在睡覺。

Along the fault lines that separate plates, crustal rocks move slowly past each other, often sticking and jamming. This causes strain to accumulate until the fault slips, causing an earthquake.
地殼巖石沿著斷層線（板塊的分割線）彼此緩慢移動(dòng)，經(jīng)常發(fā)生粘連和堵塞。這使得巖層承受的壓力慢慢累積，最終斷層滑動(dòng)斷裂，引發(fā)地震。

Such relative quiet does not necessarily indicate low seismic risk.
相對(duì)不活躍地帶并不一定意味著地震風(fēng)險(xiǎn)低。

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