地震(Earthquakes)中英文
 Earthquakes may take place anywhere on the earth' s surface. During all earth quake, the vibrations make the earth's surface tremble, and even crack open. Houses fall, people are lilled or injured and sometimes whole cities are destroyed.

　　 Can we do something to protect ourselves against earthquakes? Can we take precau tionary measures? We can. Scientists have made investigation on earthquakes. They have made maps showing the "earthquake belts". In areas along these belts, earthquakes are likely to occur. In these areas we can build special houses to resist earthquake shocks and protect ourselves.

　　 in the future, scientists will be able to predict exactly when and where earthquakes will take place. Then they will be able to tell people to take precautionary measures. Thus lives can he saved and damage can be lessened.

　　地震

　　 地震可能发生在地球表面的任何地方。地震时，震动使地表颤动甚至裂开。房屋坍塌，人员伤亡，有时整座城市变为废墟。

　　 我们能够采取措施保护自己免遭地震伤害吗?能采取预防措施吗? 能。科学家们对地球进行了调查研究。他们绘制地图标出了“地震带”。沿着这些地震带可能有地震发生。在这些地震区，我们可以修建特殊房屋来抗震和保护自己。将来，科学家们将能准确的预报地震将在什么时候和什么地方发生。然后他们会告诉人们采取预防措施。如此，生命可以得到拯救，损失可以减轻。
 What is earthquake?

　　An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves（地震波）. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer（地震检波器）, also known as a seismograph（地震仪）. The moment magnitude of an earthquake is conventionally reported, or the related and mostly obsolete Richter magnitude(里氏量级）, with magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes being mostly imperceptible  感觉不到的 and magnitude 7 causing serious damage over large areas. Intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale（麦加利震级, 麦氏震级）.

　　At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by a shaking and sometimes displacement （位移）of the ground. When a large earthquake epicenter （震中）is located offshore, the seabed sometimes suffers sufficient displacement to cause a tsunami（海啸）. The shaking in earthquakes can also trigger landslides and occasionally volcanic activity.

　　In its most generic sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event—whether a natural phenomenon or an event caused by humans—that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture（破裂, 裂开） of geological faults（断层）, but also by volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear experiments.

　　An earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its focus or hypocenter. The term epicenter means the point at ground level directly above this.