阿拉斯加发生强震

The largest earthquake in the United States in the last half century produced a lot of shaking but spared Alaska any major damage in a sparsely populated region, officials said Thursday.

有关官员周四表示，这场美国近半个世纪以来最大的地震造成了大量震动，但对人口稀少的阿拉斯加地区没有造成任何重大破坏。

The magnitude 8.2 earthquake was reported about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, and struck just south of the Alaska Peninsula, nearly 500 miles (804.67 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.

据报道，这场8.2级地震发生在周三晚上10点15分左右，袭击了阿拉斯加半岛南部，距离安克雷奇西南约500英里(804.67公里)。

The quake was about 60 miles (96.56 kilometers) offshore and 29 miles (46 kilometers) below the surface of the North Pacific Ocean, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

美国地质调查局的数据显示，此次地震发生在距北太平洋约60英里(96.56公里)的海面下，距地面29英里(46公里)。

The Alaska Earthquake Center said on its website that it was the largest quake in the U.S. since a magnitude 8.7 quake in the Aleutians in 1965.

阿拉斯加地震中心在其网站上说，这是自1965年阿留申群岛发生8.7级地震以来美国最大的地震。

A year before that, the magnitude 9.2 Good Friday earthquake devastated parts of Anchorage and other Alaska communities.

一年前，9.2级的耶稣受难日地震摧毁了安克雷奇的部分地区和阿拉斯加的其他社区。

That quake and ensuing tsunami killed 131 people from Alaska to California.

那次地震和随之而来的海啸造成从阿拉斯加到加州的131人死亡。

The late Wednesday quake produced a lot of shaking.

这次周三晚些时候的地震造成了强烈的震动。

But the director of the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said Thursday no major damage was reported anywhere in the nation’s largest state.

但是阿拉斯加国土安全与紧急事务管理局局长星期四说，在这个美国最大的州，没有任何重大损失的报告。

“You could imagine if that earthquake happened in Anchorage or in Los Angeles the damage that would have occurred and the loss of life and injury and property damage and all of that. But so far, so good,” said the director, Bryan Fisher.

“你可以想象，如果地震发生在安克雷奇或洛杉矶，造成的损失、人员伤亡和财产损失等等。但到目前为止，一切顺利，”地质局局长布莱恩·费舍尔说。

He’s been with the agency for 26 years, and this was the largest quake he’s experienced.

他在该机构工作了26年，这是他经历过的最大的地震。

“I was really assuming the worst, that there was going to be widespread catastrophic damage,” he said.

他说:“我真的做了最坏的打算，认为会有大范围的灾难性破坏。”

But as calls were made to coastal communities while they were evacuating during the tsunami warning, the calls were able to go through, a good initial sign.

但在海啸预警期间，当沿海社区疏散时，有人打电话给他们，电话可以打通，这是一个初步的好迹象。

And local officials reported they didn’t see any structural or significant damage.

当地官员表示，他们没有看到任何结构或重大的破坏。

Given how long the ground shook, up to two minutes in some places, they expected to have broken glasses or plates and items thrown out of pantries and refrigerators.

考虑到地震持续的时间，有些地方甚至达到了两分钟，他们认为可能是玻璃或盘子被打碎，食品储藏室和冰箱里的物品被甩了出来。

“But to not have roads collapse, not have a damaging wave from the tsunami that was generated was just incredible,” Fisher said.

“但是没有道路坍塌，没有海啸产生的破坏性波浪，这是不可思议的，”费舍尔说。

“It’s really a miracle.”

“这真是个奇迹。”

A common saying is that earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do, said Peter Haeussler, a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

美国地质调查局的研究地质学家彼得·豪斯勒说，一个常见的说法是，地震不会造成人员死亡，造成死亡的是倒下的建筑。

“Because this earthquake was so far from the shore — it was basically out in the middle of nowhere and also in places where nobody is really living — then the ability to have strong ground shaking, to damage buildings, to injure people goes to pretty close to zero,” Haeussler said.

“因为这次地震震源离海岸很远—位于海中央，无人居住的地方—所以没有能造成很强烈的地面震动，也没有震毁房屋，所以也几乎没有造成人员伤亡，”豪斯勒说道。

Tsunamis generated by earthquakes can also cause a lot of damage.

而由地震引发的海啸也可以引发巨大损失。

But he said this one occurred underneath a shelf, so it didn’t displace very much water.

但他说这次的震源在大陆架下方，所以也没有造成大规模海浪涌动。

“We were fortunate, very fortunate,” said Jordan Keeler, the city administrator in Sand Point, a community of about 1,300 people located about 65 miles (104.61 kilometers) southwest of the quake’s epicenter.

“我们很幸运，非常幸运，”沙点市的行政官员乔丹·基勒说，沙点是一个约有1300人的社区，位于震中西南约65英里(104.61公里)处。