001 警报！地震！

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" I don't get this," Will Jacobs grumbled as he tried to do his fourth-grade science homework

“我不明白这个，”威尔·雅各布斯抱怨着，他正在做四年级的科学作业。

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His mother stepped into the doorway and asked," Will, are you done with your homework? It's almost time for bed."

他妈妈走到门口，问道：“威尔，作业做完了吗？快到睡觉时间了。”

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" No. I'm still trying to answer these questions

“没有。我还在试着回答这些问题。

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I just don't understand earthquakes. How can the earth shake?"

我就是搞不懂地震。大地怎么会摇晃呢？”

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" Why don't you take a little break?" Will's mom suggested." That sometimes helps."

“你为什么不休息一会儿呢？”威尔的妈妈建议道，“有时候休息一下会有帮助。”

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After his mom left, Will set an alarm on his phone

妈妈离开后，威尔在手机上设了个闹钟。

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He had just gotten it for his birthday, and he loved the new gadget

这手机是他刚收到的生日礼物，他很喜欢这个新玩意儿。

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Will put his head down on the desk and instantly fell asleep

威尔把头趴在桌子上，立刻就睡着了。

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Soon the alarm went off, making the table vibrate

很快，闹钟响了，让桌子震动起来。

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Will silenced it, ignoring the message on the phone's screen: " WAKE UP!"

威尔关掉了闹钟，没有理会手机屏幕上的消息：“快醒醒！”

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He went back to sleep, only to be woken up again by another vibration

他又睡着了，结果又被一阵振动弄醒了。

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But this time when Will opened his eyes, he wasn't in his room — he was in a dark, long cave

但这次威尔睁开眼睛时，他不在自己的房间里——他在一个又黑又长的洞穴里。

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And the phone wasn't vibrating — the ground was shaking!

而且不是手机在震动——是地面在震动！

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" Whoa," thought Will." What's going on?"

“哇，”威尔心想，“这是怎么回事？”

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A voice nearby squeaked," Alert! Earthquake!"

附近一个声音尖叫道：“警报！地震！”

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Will looked around but didn't see anyone. Then he spotted a patch of light on the ground

威尔环顾四周，但没看到任何人。接着他注意到地上有一小片光。

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He looked closer and saw that it was his phone. The voice came from the device!

他凑近一看，发现那是他的手机。声音是从那东西里发出来的！

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Will picked up the phone, mumbling to himself," This is strange. Phones can't talk!"

威尔拿起手机，自言自语道：“真奇怪。手机不会说话啊！”

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" Most phones don't talk, but I am a QT-9000."

“大多数手机不会说话，但我是QT-9000。”

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He almost dropped it again when the phone replied!

手机这一回答，差点又让他把手机掉在地上！

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" I can talk and do much more. I'm the smartest phone you'll ever have! You can call me QT."

“我会说话，还能做很多事。我是你将拥有的最聪明的手机！你可以叫我QT。”

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" Wow!" Will exclaimed." Can you tell me what's happening? Where am I?"

“哇！”威尔大声说。“你能告诉我发生了什么事吗？我在哪里？”

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" My sensors indicate that we are in a cave

“我的传感器显示我们正在一个洞穴里。

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And we just experienced a small earthquake," replied QT

而且我们刚刚经历了一次小地震，”QT回答。

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All of a sudden, the ground started shaking again

突然，地面又开始摇晃。

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" And this is a big earthquake," QT said as a whole section of the rock wall moved

“而这是一次大地震，”QT说，同时一整块岩壁移动了。

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Will noticed light coming through a crack in the ceiling

威尔注意到有光从顶部的一条裂缝中透进来。

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" I'm getting out of here," he said, stuffing the phone in his pocket. He climbed out to the surface

“我要离开这里，”他说着，把手机塞进口袋。他爬出了地面。

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Nearby a road had torn in half. Will pulled his phone out and asked," How can a huge part of the ground move like that?"

附近一条路断裂成了两半。威尔掏出手机问道：“这么大一片地面怎么能那样移动？”

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A map of the world appeared on QT's screen

QT的屏幕上出现了一张世界地图。

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" The surface of the planet, called the crust, is made up of chunks called tectonic plates

“地球的表面叫做地壳，它由许多大块组成，这些大块叫做板块。”

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There are 12 large plates and many smaller ones," QT explained

“有12个大板块和许多小板块，”QT解释说。

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" The plates float on top of the mantle, a soft layer of rock and other materials

“这些板块漂浮在地幔上面，地幔是一层由岩石和其他物质组成的柔软层。”

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Underneath the mantle is a layer of liquid metal called the outer core

地幔下面是一层液态金属，叫做外核。

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And underneath that is the inner core, which is solid metal

再往下就是内核，是固态金属。

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It's very hot at the center of the planet, and the heat escaping from there makes the plates move

地球中心非常热，从那里散发的热量使板块运动。

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The movement is what causes earthquakes," said QT

板块运动就是引发地震的原因，”QT说。

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" Oh..." Will thought for a moment and then asked," If the plates are constantly moving, why aren't earthquakes happening all the time?"

“哦……”威尔想了一下，然后问道，“如果板块一直在运动，为什么不是一直发生地震呢？”

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" Actually they are! Most are just so small that people don't feel them

“实际上一直在发生！只是大多数地震太小了，人们感觉不到。

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Big earthquakes, like this one, happen when friction stops the edges of the plates from moving for a while

像这次这样的大地震，是板块边缘因摩擦暂时卡住无法移动时发生的。

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When they finally break loose, they release all that stored energy, like a spring." QT paused for a second

当它们最终挣脱时，就会释放出所有蓄积的能量，就像弹簧一样。"QT停顿了一下。

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" My GPS tells me that we are on the San Andreas Fault, in California."

"我的GPS告诉我，我们正位于加利福尼亚州的圣安德烈亚斯断层上。"

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Will's eyes lit up." We learned about faults in science class!

威尔眼睛一亮。"我们在科学课上学过断层！

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A fault is the crack between two plates in the planet's crust!"

断层就是地壳中两个板块之间的裂缝！"

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Will looked at the road again." That must be a fault over there."

威尔又看了看路面。"那边肯定是一条断层。"

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" Yes, it is. Two plates are sliding past each other here, causing powerful earthquakes

"是的。两个板块在这里相互滑动，引发了强烈的地震。

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Faults also often appear by mountains. That's because when two plates come together, their edges can wrinkle and fold to make mountains."

断层也常出现在山边。那是因为当两个板块碰撞时，它们边缘会挤压、折叠，从而形成山脉。"

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Will scratched his head." What happens when plates move apart? Do huge holes appear in the ground?"

威尔挠了挠头。"那板块相互分离时会发生什么？地上会出现巨大的洞吗？"

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" No. Right now the places where plates are moving apart are mostly under the ocean

"不会。目前板块分离的地方大多在海底。

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Down there magma — that's hot, liquid rock — rises from between the plates

在那里，岩浆——那是炽热的液态岩石——会从板块之间涌上来。

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It cools when it touches the cold water, so it hardens and becomes part of the crust," QT explained." Earthquakes can be very destructive

它一碰到冰冷的海水就会冷却，所以会硬化，变成地壳的一部分，" QT 解释道。"地震的破坏力可能非常大。

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If that road over there is destroyed, just imagine what can happen in a city during an earthquake. Actually I'll show you."

如果那边那条路都被毁了，想象一下地震时城市里会发生什么。要不，我直接带你看看。"

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" How? We're nowhere near a city," Will pointed out

"怎么看？我们离城市远着呢，" 威尔指出。

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" Look at my screen and I'll transport us. I told you I have special skills."

"看着我的屏幕，我传送我们过去。我跟你说过我有特殊能力。"

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Will gazed down at the screen and saw a street in ruins

威尔低头凝视屏幕，看到了一条变成废墟的街道。

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Then everything got dark. A moment later Will found himself in the city!

然后，一切都变暗了。过了一会儿，威尔发现自己已经身在城市里了！

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He was standing in a crowded park

他正站在一个拥挤的公园里。

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Will was shocked by the destruction around him

威尔被周围的破坏景象惊呆了。

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" I'd better stay here, away from the buildings

"我最好待在这儿，离那些建筑物远点。

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My science teacher said that aftershocks always come after a big earthquake, but we don't know when

我的科学老师说，大地震之后总会有余震，但我们不知道什么时候会发生。

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It's dangerous because more parts of the buildings could fall. But where are we?" asked Will

这很危险，因为建筑可能有更多部分会掉下来。不过，这是哪儿啊？" 威尔问道。

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" This is San Francisco after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake," QT replied

"这是发生6.9级地震后的旧金山，" QT 回答。

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" The earthquake's epicenter was actually about a hundred kilometers away, but you can see how much power it released."

"地震的震中其实在大约一百公里之外，但你能看到它释放了多大的能量。"

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Will looked confused." What's an epicenter, and what does magnitude mean?"

威尔一脸困惑。"震中是什么？震级又是什么意思？"

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" Earthquakes start deep underground. The spot on the surface of the planet above the earthquake is called its epicenter

"地震始于地下深处。地震发生处正上方的地球表面那一点，就叫做震中。

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Magnitude is the strength of an earthquake

震级指的是地震的强度。

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Each point on the magnitude scale is ten times stronger than the one before, so an 8-point earthquake is ten times stronger than a 7-point

震级表上每增加一级，强度就增加十倍，所以8级地震的强度是7级的10倍。

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Can you imagine damage ten times worse than this?"

你能想象比这破坏力强十倍的情景吗？"

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Will shook his head." No. This is pretty bad. How do they measure magnitude?

威尔摇了摇头。"不能。这已经够糟了。他们是怎么测量震级的？

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Do they count the buildings that fell or something?"

难道是数倒了多少栋楼之类的吗？"

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A jagged line appeared on QT's screen." People who study earthquakes are called seismologists

QT 的屏幕上出现了一条锯齿线。"研究地震的人叫做地震学家。

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They measure earthquakes with machines called seismographs, which monitor the vibrations in the ground

他们用一种叫地震仪的机器来测量地震，这种机器会监测地面的振动。

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Usually the earth doesn't move much, so the waves the seismographs draw are pretty small

通常地面不会怎么动，所以地震仪画出的波形图非常小。

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But during an earthquake, the waves get really big

但在地震发生时，波形就会变得非常大。

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The size of the waves determines the magnitude."

波形的大小就决定了震级的高低。"

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Suddenly the aftershock came. The ground rumbled and then moved

突然，余震来了。地面发出隆隆声，然后开始晃动。

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Terrified, Will shut his eyes. When the sound passed, he slowly opened his eyes

威尔吓坏了，紧紧闭上了眼睛。当声音过去后，他慢慢睁开了眼睛。

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To his amazement he was back in his room. His phone was vibrating in his hand; the alarm was going off

令他惊奇的是，他回到了自己的房间里。手机在他手里振动着；闹钟响了。

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" That was a strange dream...," he muttered, reaching for his pencil

"真是一个奇怪的梦......" 他嘟囔着，伸手去拿铅笔。

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" But QT sure is cool! And now these homework questions will be a piece of cake!"

"不过 QT 确实很酷！现在这些作业题简直就是小菜一碟啦！"