Once it is in place, the idea is that three people—Christiansen in Menlo Park, California, Professor Robert B. Smith at the University of Utah, and Doss in the park—would assess the degree of danger of any potential cataclysm and advise the park superintendent. The superintendent would take the decision whether to evacuate the park. As for surrounding areas, there are no plans. If Yellowstone were going to blow in a really big way, you would be on your own once you left the park gates.
計劃問世以后，打算這么做：3個人——加利福尼亞門洛公園的克里斯琴森、猶他大學的羅伯特·B·史密斯和公園的多斯——將評估潛在大災難的危險程度，然后向公園主管提出建議。主管將作出是否應當撤離公園的決定。至于周圍地區，他們沒有計劃。一旦出了公園大門，你不得不自己救自己——要是黃石火山真的大爆發的話，這個計劃解決不了什么大問題。
Of course it may be tens of thousands of years before that day comes. Doss thinks such a day may not come at all. "Just because there was a pattern in the past doesn't mean that it still holds true," he says. "There is some evidence to suggest that the pattern may be a series of catastrophic explosions, then a long period of quiet. We may be in that now. The evidence now is that most of the magma chamber is cooling and crystallizing. It is releasing its volatiles; you need to trap volatiles for an explosive eruption."
當然，也許要過幾千幾萬年以后那一天才會到來。多斯認為這樣的一天根本不會到來?！斑@是因為，過去有個模式，并不意味著那個模式依然適用于今天，”他說，“有跡象表明，那個模式也許是一系列災難性的噴發，接著是漫長的平靜時期。我們現在也許就處在這個平靜時期。目前的跡象表明，大部分巖漿房正在冷卻，變成晶體。它在釋放火氣，你得把火氣憋在心里才能來一次大爆發。”
In the meantime there are plenty of other dangers in and around Yellowstone, as was made devastatingly evident on the night of August 17, 1959, at a place called Hebgen Lake just outside the park. At twenty minutes to midnight on that date, Hebgen Lake suffered a catastrophic quake. It was magnitude 7.5, not vast as earthquakes go, but so abrupt and wrenching that it collapsed an entire mountainside. It was the height of the summer season, though fortunately not so many people went to Yellowstone in those days as now.
與此同時，黃石公園及其周圍地區還存在許多別的危險。這一點在1959年8月17日夜里變得特別明顯。事情發生在赫布根湖地區，就在公園外面。那天午夜零點前20分鐘，赫布根湖遭受了一次災難性的地震。震級為7.5級。就地震而言，它的影響面不大，但是來得突然，來得猛烈，震塌了整個山坡。事情發生在夏季旅游旺季。幸虧，那個年代不像現在那樣有許多人前往黃石公園。
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