原文

译文

TWO weeks ago Ruichang City in Jiangxi Province was hit by an earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale. It killed 18 people and left hundreds homeless.

　　两周前，江西省瑞昌市遭遇了一场里氏5点7级的地震，有18人丧生，数百人无家可归。

　Earthquakes are one of the most deadly natural disasters in the world. They happen more frequently than you would expect.

　　地震是地球上最具毁灭性的自然灾害之一。它的发生比你想象的要更频繁。

　In the 24 hours after you read this, 400 to 500 earthquakes will shake the earth. You won't notice most of them because you live in a relatively stable area or the quake is too far away or because the quake will be too small to notice.

　　就在你读到本文之后的24小时之内，地球上就会发生400到500次地震。大多数地震你不会注意到，原因在于，你居住的地区相对来说比较平稳，或者你距地震很远，或者地震太小而注意不到。

　Earthquakes are caused by sudden breaks in rock masses deep in the earth. Rock masses are always under very high pressure. If the pressure in a certain area become too much and the rock masses break, an earthquake happens. But exactly when the rock masses reach the breaking point is a mystery.

　　地震是由于地球深层的岩层突然断裂而引发的。岩层长期处于地应力的作用下。如果某处的地应力太强使岩层断裂，就会发生地震。但是，岩层承受的最强地应力究竟是多少，却仍然未知。

　China is located on the Eurasia plate, where earthquakes happen frequently due to the earth's plates knocking against each other. Up to 17,139 earthquakes have taken place in China in the past 44 years, according to scientific research.

　　中国处于亚欧板块，这是板块之间互相撞击的区域，因此地震活动频繁。科学调查显示，在过去的44年中，中国一共发生了17139多起地震。