“Liquefaction” Key to Much of Japanese Earthquake Damage“液化”鍵很多日本的地震破壞

The massive subduction zone1 earthquake in Japan caused a significant level of soil

大規(guī)模俯沖區(qū)地震在日本造成了相當(dāng)程度的土壤

“液化”2使研究者以其廣泛的嚴(yán)重性，一個(gè)新的分析表明。

"We've seen localized3 examples of soil liquefaction as extreme as this before, but the distance and extent of damage in Japan were unusually severe," said Scott Ashford, a professor of geotechnical engineering4 at Oregon State University5. "Entire structures were tilted and sinking into the sediments," Ashford said. "The shifts in soil destroyed water, drain and gas pipelines6, crippling the utilities and infrastructure these communities need to function . We saw some places that sank as much as four feet."

“我們已經(jīng)看到了localized3土壤液化極端的例子之前，但距離和損傷程度在日本是非常嚴(yán)重的，”史葛說(shuō)阿什福德，巖土工程教授在俄勒岡州立大學(xué)?！闭麄€(gè)結(jié)構(gòu)傾斜和下沉到沉積物中，”阿什福德說(shuō)?！备淖兺寥榔茐乃潘腿?xì)鈖ipelines6癱瘓的設(shè)施和基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施，這些社區(qū)需要的功能。我們看到了一些地方，高達(dá)四英尺。”

Some degree of soil liquefaction7 is common in almost any major earthquake. It's a phenomenon in which soils soaked with water, particularly recent sediments or sand, can lose much of their strength and flow during an earthquake. This can allow structures to shift or sink or collapse .

一定程度的土壤liquefaction7是常見(jiàn)的幾乎任何大地震。這一現(xiàn)象在土壤與水浸泡，特別是最近的沉積物或沙子，可以大大減少其強(qiáng)度和流動(dòng)地震期間。這可以允許結(jié)構(gòu)轉(zhuǎn)變或沉或崩潰。

But most earthquakes are much shorter than the recent event in Japan, Ashford said. The length of the Japanese earthquake, as much as five minutes, may force researchers to reconsider the extent of liquefaction damage possibly occurring in situations such as this8.

但大部分地震是短得多的最近的事件在日本，阿什福德說(shuō)。長(zhǎng)度的日本地震，長(zhǎng)達(dá)五分鐘，會(huì)迫使研究者重新考慮液化的程度的損害可能發(fā)生在這種情況下this8。

"With such a long-lasting earthquake, we saw how structures that might have been okay after 30 seconds just continued to sink and tilt as the shaking continued for several more minutes," he said. "And it was clear that younger sediments, and especially areas built on recently filled ground, are much more vulnerable."

“有了這樣一個(gè)持久的地震，我們看到的結(jié)構(gòu)，可能是好的30秒后就繼續(xù)下沉，傾斜的震動(dòng)持續(xù)了幾分鐘，”他說(shuō)。”很明顯，較年輕的沉積物，特別是地區(qū)建立在新填地，更容易受到傷害。”

The data provided by analyzing the Japanese earthquake, researchers said, should make it possible to improve the understanding of this soil phenomenon and better prepare for it in the future. Ashford said it was critical for the team to collect the information quickly, before damage was removed in the recovery efforts9.

所提供的數(shù)據(jù)分析日本地震，研究人員說(shuō)，應(yīng)該能夠更好地理解這一現(xiàn)象和土壤更好地準(zhǔn)備在未來(lái)。阿什福德說(shuō)，這是至關(guān)重要的團(tuán)隊(duì)來(lái)收集信息迅速，損壞之前被刪除的恢復(fù)efforts9。

"There's no doubt that we'll learn things from what happened in Japan10 that11 will help us to reduce risks in other similar events ," Ashford said. "Future construction in some places may make more use of techniques known to reduce liquefaction, such as better compaction to make soils dense, or use of reinforcing stone columns."

“毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，我們將學(xué)到的東西，從發(fā)生的事情japan10that11會(huì)幫助我們減少風(fēng)險(xiǎn)在其他類(lèi)似的活動(dòng)，”阿什福德說(shuō)?！蔽磥?lái)的建設(shè)在一些地方可以使用更多的技術(shù)，以減少液化，如更好的壓實(shí)，使土壤密實(shí)，或使用增強(qiáng)的石柱?！?/P>

Ashford pointed out that northern California have younger soils vulnerable to liquefaction ---on the coast, near river deposits or in areas with filled ground. The "young" sediments, in geologic terms, may be those deposited within the past 10,000 years or more. In Oregon, for instance, that describes much of downtown Portland, the Portland International Airport and other cities.

阿什福德指出，加利福尼亞北部有年輕的土壤易液化，在海岸附近，河流沉積或地區(qū)填土?！澳贻p”的沉積物，在地質(zhì)條件，可存放在過(guò)去的10000年或以上。在俄勒岡，例如，描述了波特蘭市區(qū)，波特蘭國(guó)際機(jī)場(chǎng)和其他城市。

Anything near a river and old flood plains is a suspect12, and the Oregon Department of Transportation has already concluded that 1,100 bridges in the state are at risk from an earthquake. Fewer than 15 percent of them have been reinforced to prevent collapse. Japan has suffered tremendous losses in the March 11 earthquake, but Japanese construction standards helped prevent many buildings from collapse ---even as they tilted and sank into the ground.

任何附近的河流和老沖積平原是一個(gè)suspect12，和俄勒岡交通部門(mén)已得出結(jié)論，1100座橋梁的狀態(tài)是危險(xiǎn)的地震。少于百分之15人已加強(qiáng)防止崩潰。日本在三月十一日的地震中遭受巨大損失，但日本建筑標(biāo)準(zhǔn)有助于防止許多建筑物倒塌，即使他們并沉入地面傾斜。

詞匯：

subduction /sʌb'dʌkʃən/ n.俯沖 sediment /'sedimənt/ n.沉積;沉淀物

liquefaction /likwi'fækʃən/ n.液化 infrastructure /'Infrə,strʌktʃə/ n.基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施

geotecnical /dʒiəu'teknikəl] adj.巖土技術(shù) compaction /kəm'pækʃən/ n.壓緊的

vulnerable /'vʌlnərəbl/ ad].易受傷害的

注釋：

1. subduction zone：俯沖帶。亦稱下降帶、潛沒(méi)帶、消亡帶。板塊構(gòu)造說(shuō)認(rèn)為，當(dāng)大洋板塊移動(dòng)并與大陸板塊相遇時(shí)，由于大洋板塊巖石密度較大，地位也低，便俯沖到大陸板塊之下，這一俯沖部分叫做俯沖帶。俯沖帶兩側(cè)板塊會(huì)聚邊界稱會(huì)聚邊緣(convergent boundary)。俯沖帶上面反映震源活動(dòng)的地帶稱“貝尼奧夫地震帶(Benioff seismic zone)"。

2. soil "liquefaction"：土壤液化。土壤液化現(xiàn)象是指由于孔隙水壓力上升，有效應(yīng)力減小所導(dǎo)致的土壤從固態(tài)到液態(tài)的變化，飽水的疏松的粉、細(xì)砂土在振動(dòng)作用下突然破壞而呈現(xiàn)液

態(tài)的現(xiàn)象。

3. localized：小范圍的

4. geotechnical engineering：巖土工程。

5. Oregon State University：俄勒岡州立大學(xué)，建校于1858年，位于美國(guó)俄勒岡州科瓦利斯，全校設(shè)11個(gè)學(xué)院，80多個(gè)專業(yè)，尤以農(nóng)科和工程最為突出。2008年俄勒岡州立大學(xué)的核能工程專業(yè)在全美大學(xué)中排名第9名。

6. water, drain and gas pipelines：自來(lái)水管道、排水管道和煤氣管道。"water, drain and gaspipelines” 即“water pipelines, drain pipelines and gas pipelines"。

7. some degree of soil liquefaction：某種程度的土壤液化

8. to reconsider the extent of liquefaction damage possibly occurring in situations such as this：本句的意思是：重新審視類(lèi)似這次(持續(xù)時(shí)間長(zhǎng)的)地震中因土壤液化而可能造成的毀壞的規(guī)模。

9. recovery efforts：重建工作

10. that we'll learn things from what happened in Japan：我們將從日本的地震中學(xué)到很多東西。該句是同位語(yǔ)從句，說(shuō)出前半句no doubt的內(nèi)容。

11. that：that引導(dǎo)的是定語(yǔ)從句，修辭前半句中的things。

12.suspect：被懷疑對(duì)象。文中指的是那些疑似危險(xiǎn)的土壤。