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0Episode: Panama 7.6 Quake: From Village to Capital
Duration: approximately 6 minutes
Level: B1 (Intermediate)
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[Mike]: Welcome back to Learn English with Podcasts! Sarah, have you ever felt a building move under your feet?
zh:欢迎回到 Learn English with Podcasts！Sarah，你有没有试过感觉脚下的楼在动？
[Sarah]: No, and I hope I never do. That sounds scary. Why do you ask? Did something happen?
zh:没有，我希望永远不要。那听起来很吓人。你为什么问？发生什么了吗？
[Mike]: Yes, yesterday morning. A 7.6 earthquake hit Panama. At first, scientists said it was 8.0. Later they changed it to 7.6.
zh:有，昨天早上。巴拿马发生了7.6级地震。一开始科学家说是8.0级，后来改成了7.6级。
[Sarah]: Wow, 8.0? Even 7.6 sounds huge. Where exactly did it happen?
zh:哇，8.0？就算7.6也很大了。到底发生在哪里？
[Mike]: Near a small place called Pitaloza Arriba. The center was about 10 km southwest of that village. It is in Herrera province, near the southern part of the country.
zh:在一个叫 Pitaloza Arriba 的小地方附近。震中在那个村庄西南约10公里。在埃雷拉省，靠近这个国家的南部。
[Sarah]: I have never heard that name. Is it a big city?
zh:我从没听过这个名字。是大城市吗？
[Mike]: No, it is a tiny remote village. Most people in the world learned this name only yesterday. But the shaking traveled very far.
zh:不是，是个偏远小村。全世界大多数人都是昨天才知道这个名字。但震感传得非常远。
[Sarah]: How far? Did people in the capital feel it?
zh:有多远？首都的人有感觉吗？
[Mike]: Yes. In Panama City, buildings shook. People ran out into the streets. Outside one shopping mall, a big crowd stood and waited for news.
zh:有。在巴拿马城，楼都晃了。人们跑到街上。在一家商场外面，一大群人站着等消息。
[Sarah]: Oh, that picture I saw. People outside the hospital too, right? Mothers and babies?
zh:哦，我看到那张照片了。医院外面也有人，对吧？妈妈和宝宝们？
[Mike]: Yes, at Santo Tomas hospital. People stood outside the maternity ward and checked their phones. Imagine, new babies arrived on the same morning the earth moved.
zh:对，在圣托马斯医院。人们站在产科病房外面看手机。想想看，地球晃动的同一个早上，新宝宝出生了。
[Sarah]: That gives me goosebumps. So was the capital badly damaged?
zh:我起鸡皮疙瘩了。那首都受损严重吗？
[Mike]: Luckily, no. A civil protection officer named Omar Smith said there was no damage in the capital, even with its hundreds of tall buildings.
zh:幸运的是，没有。民防官员 Omar Smith 说首都没受损，尽管那里有几百栋高楼。
[Sarah]: That is good news. But what about places near the center?
zh:那是好消息。但震中附近呢？
[Mike]: That is where the damage is. In three central provinces, Veraguas, Herrera, and Los Santos, some buildings and roads collapsed.
zh:那里有损失。在中部的三个省，贝拉瓜斯、埃雷拉和洛斯桑托斯，一些房子和道路塌了。
[Sarah]: Collapsed? That sounds serious. Were many people hurt?
zh:塌了？听起来很严重。很多人受伤吗？
[Mike]: So far, no deaths have been reported. That is surprising for such a big quake, and everyone hopes it stays that way.
zh:目前还没有死亡报告。对这么大的地震来说很意外，大家都希望一直这样。
[Sarah]: I hope so too. But wait, I also heard the word tsunami. Was there a wave?
zh:我也希望。不过等等，我还听到了海啸这个词。有海浪吗？
[Mike]: There was a warning, not a big wave in the end. Scientists said waves of 1 to 3 meters were possible along some coasts of Panama.
zh:最后只是预警，没有大浪。科学家说巴拿马部分海岸可能有1到3米的海浪。
[Sarah]: Only Panama? Or other countries too?
zh:只有巴拿马？还是其他国家也有？
[Mike]: Several neighbors were on the list too, like Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. People near the sea were told to stay careful.
zh:几个邻国也在名单上，比如哥伦比亚、厄瓜多尔、尼加拉瓜和危地马拉。住在海边的人被提醒要小心。
[Sarah]: I would be so nervous if I lived near the beach. What happened in the end?
zh:如果我住在海边，肯定紧张死了。最后怎么样了？
[Mike]: A few hours later, the warning center said the threat had passed. No action was needed, only normal care near the sea. The US West Coast was never in danger.
zh:几小时后，预警中心说威胁已经过去。不用采取行动，在海边正常小心就行。美国西海岸从没危险。
[Sarah]: From fear to relief in one morning. That is a lot of feelings. Was that the end?
zh:一早上从害怕到放心，心情起伏太大了。这就结束了吗？
[Mike]: Not quite. In the afternoon, a 6.6 aftershock hit the same area. An aftershock is a smaller quake that comes after the big one.
zh:还没完。下午，同一地区又发生了6.6级余震。余震就是大地震之后的小地震。
[Sarah]: Oh, so the earth did not calm down at once. It is like when you drop a heavy box, and small things keep falling off the shelf.
zh:哦，所以地球不是一下就平静了。就像你掉了个重箱子，架子上的小东西还会继续往下掉。
[Mike]: That is a great picture. And here is one more fact. This is the fourth big quake in Latin America this year with a magnitude above 7.0.
zh:这个比喻很好。再告诉你一个事实。这是今年拉美第四个7.0级以上的大地震。
[Sarah]: Four? I remember Venezuela in June and Colombia in August. The earth has been busy this year.
zh:四个？我记得6月委内瑞拉、8月哥伦比亚。今年地球真忙。
[Mike]: Busy is the right word. The depth also matters. This quake was only 10 km deep. That is shallow, so the shaking feels stronger.
zh:忙这个词很对。深度也很重要。这次地震只有10公里深。很浅，所以震感更强。
[Sarah]: So shallow means closer to us, and we feel it more. Deep means farther away, and we feel it less. Right?
zh:所以浅就是离我们近，感觉更强。深就是离得远，感觉更弱。对吗？
[Mike]: Exactly. Think of it like a knock on the door. A knock right behind the door sounds loud. The same knock from three rooms away sounds soft.
zh:完全对。就像敲门。门后直接敲很响，隔三个房间敲就很轻。
[Sarah]: That helps a lot. Two new words for me today: epicenter and aftershock. The epicenter is where it starts. The aftershock is what follows.
zh:这下明白多了。我今天学到两个新词：epicenter 和 aftershock。epicenter 是起点，aftershock 是后面的余震。
[Mike]: And magnitude tells us how big it is. 7.6 is major. It can destroy buildings near the center and shake cities far away.
zh:还有 magnitude 表示有多大。7.6就是大地震。能摧毁震中附近的房子，还能让远方的城市晃动。
[Sarah]: You know what stays with me? That tiny village name. Yesterday nobody knew Pitaloza Arriba. Today the whole world is saying it.
zh:你知道我印象最深的是什么吗？那个小村名。昨天没人知道 Pitaloza Arriba，今天全世界都在念它。
[Mike]: And those babies at Santo Tomas hospital. One day their parents will tell them, you were born on the morning the whole country shook.
zh:还有圣托马斯医院的宝宝们。有一天他们的父母会告诉他们，你出生在举国震动的那个早上。
[Sarah]: That is a story for life. Okay, friends, have you ever felt an earthquake? What did you do first? Tell us, and see you next time!
zh:这是一辈子的故事。好，朋友们，你感受过地震吗？你第一反应是做什么？告诉我们，下期见！
