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The San Francisco earthquake of 1906, for comparison, measured an estimated 7.8 on the Richter scale and lasted less than thirty seconds.
相比之下，1906年的舊金山地震只有里氏7.8級(jí)，持續(xù)了不到30秒。
Earthquakes are fairly common. Every day on average somewhere in the world there are two of magnitude 2.0 or greater—that's enough to give anyone nearby a pretty good jolt. Although they tend to cluster in certain places—notably around the rim of the Pacific—they can occur almost anywhere. In the United States, only Florida, eastern Texas, and the upper Midwest seem—so far—to be almost entirely immune. New England has had two quakes of magnitude 6.0 or greater in the last two hundred years. In April 2002, the region experienced a 5.1 magnitude shaking in a quake near Lake Champlain on the New York-Vermont border, causing extensive local damage and (I can attest) knocking pictures from walls and children from beds as far away as New Hampshire.
地震是相當(dāng)普遍的。世界上平均每天都要發(fā)生兩次2.0級(jí)或以上的地震──其強(qiáng)度足以使附近的人感到心驚肉跳。地震往往集中在某些地區(qū)──引人注目的是太平洋沿岸地區(qū)──但地震幾乎可以發(fā)生在任何地方。在美國(guó)──迄今為止──只有佛羅里達(dá)州、得克薩斯州東部和中西部北部，好像幾乎完全幸免于難。在過(guò)去的200年里，新英格蘭有過(guò)兩次6級(jí)以上地震。2002年4月，位于這個(gè)地區(qū)紐約州-佛蒙特州邊境的尚普蘭湖附近地區(qū)經(jīng)歷了一次5.1級(jí)地震，給當(dāng)?shù)卦斐珊艽蟮钠茐?，連遠(yuǎn)在新罕布什爾州（我可以作證），墻上的照片也被震落下來(lái)，床上的小孩被掀翻在地。
The most common types of earthquakes are those where two plates meet, as in California along the San Andreas Fault. As the plates push against each other, pressures build up until one or the other gives way. In general, the longer the interval between quakes, the greater the pent-up pressure and thus the greater the scope for a really big jolt. This is a particular worry for Tokyo, which Bill McGuire, a hazards specialist at University College London, describes as "the city waiting to die" (not a motto you will find on many tourism leaflets).
最常見(jiàn)的地震發(fā)生在兩個(gè)板塊相接之處，比如沿圣安德烈斯斷層的加利福尼亞州。兩個(gè)板塊互相推推搡搡，壓力隨之增加，最后一方或另一方作出讓步。總的來(lái)說(shuō)，兩次地震的間隔越長(zhǎng)，積儲(chǔ)的壓力就越大，大地震波及的范圍就越廣。東京特別擔(dān)心這樣的事情發(fā)生。倫敦大學(xué)院的危險(xiǎn)事件專家比爾·麥圭爾把東京描述成一個(gè)“等待死亡的城市”(你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，許多旅游傳單上沒(méi)有印上這句名言)。
