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Strict building codes and the preparedness of millions of Chileans who live along an arc of volcanoes and fault lines likely kept the death toll -- only six by Wednesday afternoon -- low after an 8.2-magnitude earthquake rumbled offshore and prompted a tsunami, observers said. |
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智利外海發生一場規模八點二的地震引發海嘯之後,死亡人數不高──截至週三下午只有六人──的原因可能是嚴格的建築法規,加上數百萬住在火山與斷層線弧形地帶的智利民眾準備充足,觀察人士指出。 |
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The earthquake late Tuesday triggered landslides, power outages and a tsunami. |
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Officials said four of those whose deaths were blamed on the quake suffered heart attacks, while two others were crushed. |
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週二夜裡發生的地震引發了山崩、停電以及海嘯。官員表示,因地震而喪生的死者當中,有四人死於心臟病,其他兩人則是遭到壓死。 |
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"They're a seismically active region of the world and they are very good at implementing their building codes similar to California," John Bellini, a Denver-based geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey told CNN on Wednesday. |
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「智利是世界上的地震活躍區,他們的建築法規與加州類似,執行地非常好,」美國地質調查局駐在丹佛的地球物理學家約翰.貝利尼在週三向 CNN 表示。 |
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He added, "Because of that, you would see less damage than in other places that have poorer building codes... that's probably one of the reasons there haven't been as many casualties as there could have been from a magnitude earthquake of this size." |
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他接著指出:「由於如此,智利可見的損害就比建築法規較差的其他地方來得少……也許這就是其中一個原因,結果並沒有這種規模的地震可能造成的那麼多傷亡。」 |
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Nearly 928,000 people were evacuated, said Ricardo Toro, director of Chile's office of national emergency. |
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將近九十二萬八千人被撤離,智利國家緊急辦公室主任利卡多.多羅表示。 |
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More than 2,500 homes sustained serious structural damage in the region around the northern port city of Iquique, the mayor of Alto Hospicio, Ramon Galleguillos, told reporters. |
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Most of the homes were built with poor workmanship through government subsidies. |
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北方港口城市伊基克周圍地區有超過兩千五百戶民宅結構嚴重受損,阿托荷斯皮其歐市長拉蒙.嘉耶吉尤斯向記者表示。這些民宅當中,大多數都是透過政府補助款蓋成,做工品質不良。 |
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Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who toured the region Wednesday, praised local authorities for responding in an "exemplary manner" to a powerful earthquake and the tsunami that followed. |
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智利總統米雪兒.巴切蕾特在週三巡視了那個區域,稱讚地方當局以「足堪表率的方式」因應這場強烈地震以及後續的海嘯。 |
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"This is a great example to all of us that when we work together in an adequate manner and when we follow the plans that have been established in the region, we work well," Bachelet said. |
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「對我們所有人而言,這是一個絕佳模範,只要我們充分合作,只要我們遵循這個區域建立的計畫,我們就可以做得很好,」巴切蕾特說。 |