Central Italy Earthquake Death Toll Rises, Search for Victims Continues
VOA News
Last updated on: August 25, 2016 7:12 AM (source)
Central Italy Earthquake Death Toll Rises, Search for Victims Continues
義大利中部強震：死亡人數上升，搜救行動持續中
August 25, 2016 7:12 AM
Jamie Dettmer
Italian officials have raised the death toll from Wednesday's earthquake to at least 247 people and injured more than 360.
Rescuers are continuing to search for victims buried in the debris.
Earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi traveled by helicopter to the affected areas and shook hands with the rescue volunteers. Renzi also spoke with the minister of infrastructure and the head of the civil protection agency.
He declined to make any statement to reporters, saying it was "not the time to talk." Earlier, Renzi said, "No family, no city, no town will be left alone.''
The earthquake struck the region just after 3:30 a.m. local time Wednesday, causing extensive damage to three cities near the epicenter. Children were among the dead.
The U.S. Geological Survey put the epicenter of the magnitude-6.2 quake about 10 kilometers southeast of the town of Norcia.
The shaking was also felt across a large part of the Umbria region, including the capital, Rome, 150 kilometers away.
The hardest-hit areas included the towns of Amatrice and Accumoli, which was largely reduced to rubble.
"Three-quarters of the town is not there anymore,'' Amatrice Mayor Sergio Pirozzi told state-run broadcaster RAI. "The aim now is to save as many lives as possible. There are voices under the rubble; we have to save the people there."
The civil protection agency confirmed that 53 of the dead were in Amatrice alone.
"The whole ceiling fell but did not hit me," Amatrice resident Maria Gianni said. "I just managed to put a pillow on my head and I wasn't hit luckily, just slightly injured my leg."
Another woman, sitting in front of her destroyed home, said she did not know what might have happened to her loved ones.
"It was one of the most beautiful towns of Italy and now there's nothing left,'' she said.
The Rev. Savino D'Amelio, a parish priest in Amatrice, called the situation an "immense tragedy."
More than 80 aftershocks
In the neighboring province of Marche, the earthquake was felt at 3.36 a.m. In Montefiore dell'Aso, about 90 minutes away by car from Norcia, the epicenter, the shock lasted about 30 seconds, VOA's Jamie Dettmer said.
Dettmer said residents at the Hotel Magnolia, perched above a picturesque valley running into the Adriatic, were shocked by the quake's strength and duration as they evacuated the building, fearing aftershocks.
"The hotel creaked and groaned ... as the prolonged jolt tested the building, which held up well. There was only a slight and small superficial crack in the masonry," he said.
Outside the hotel, guests trawled the internet for news and called family and friends to find out if they were all safe.
About 45 minutes later, a second, weaker temblor lasted about 20 seconds. And later on, another aftershock was felt, also lasting about 20 seconds.
Dettmer said more than 80 aftershocks have been felt since the initial large tremor in different parts of Italy.
"Italians in the central provinces of Lazio, Marche and Umbria are on edge," he said. "Many people are fearful of a repeat of the devastation caused in the 2009 earthquake that wrecked the city of L'Aquila, in which 309 people died. So far it is smaller villages that have been mostlyaffected."
Wednesday'squake was not far from L'Aquila.
Most of the dead were in the villages of Accumoli and Amatrice. Another village to the southeast of Norcia, Pescara del Tronto, was leveled.
Several days earlier, central Italy had experienced slight tremors.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis expressed his sorrow for the people and cities affected and canceled part of his general audience to pray for the victims.
International aid
German leaders have offered condolences and assistance to Italy. France is also offering Italy all the help "that might be necessary" after the deadly earthquake in Umbria.
Christos Stylianides, the European Union's crisis management commissioner, said the EU emergency response center is in contact with Italian civil protection authorities to see what additional help might be required.
Italy's civil protection agency said several hundred people were injured and many others are in need of temporary housing.
"Quakes of this magnitude at this depth in our territory in general create building collapses, which can result in deaths,"
said the agency's head, Fabrizio Curcio.
Rescuers worked after daybreak to try to reach those trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.
"We need chain saws, shears to cut iron bars, and jacks to remove beams: everything, we need everything," civil protection worker Andrea Gentili told the Associated Press.
"We are only hoping there will be the least number of victims possible and that we all have the courage to move on," D'Amelio said.
Recent Earthquakes in Italy
July 2001 – 5.2 quake shakes the northern Italy's Alto Adige, killing one woman.
October 2002 – 5.9 quake in Campobasso, kills 30 people, most of them children.
April 2009 – Powerful quake in Abruzzo kills more than 300 people.
May 2012 – 16 people killed and 350 injured in earthquake around Modena.
義大利官方已把週三（2016年8月24日）地震的死亡人數(death toll)提高到至少247人，受傷人數則超過360人。
(編按：此死亡與受傷人數為8月25日之新聞資料，非最終統計數字。)
搜救人員仍持續搜尋埋在瓦礫(debris)中的受難者。
義總理馬泰奧‧倫奇(Matteo Renzi)週三稍早時搭乘直升機到受地震影響的地區，與搜救志工們握手，並和基礎建設(infrastructure)部的部長及民事防護局（以下簡稱民防局）的局長討論地震的災情。
倫奇拒絕對記者發表任何談話，僅表示「現在不是說話的時候」。稍早時，倫奇曾表示：「每一個城市、每一個鄉鎮、每一個家庭都不會被遺忘。」
地震在當地時間週三的清晨3點30分來襲，在三座靠近震央(epicenter)的城市引發了大範圍的災害。身亡者當中亦有孩童。
美國地質調查局(U.S. Geological Survey)認定這起規模6.2的地震震央在諾爾恰市(Norcia)東南方的10公里處。
溫布利亞大區(Umbria)大部分的地區，還有距離震央150公里遠的首都羅馬(Rome)，都能感受到地震的搖晃。
受災最嚴重的城鎮中有阿馬特里切鎮(Amatrice)和阿庫莫利鎮(Accumoli)，城鎮中大部分的建物都被地震夷為碎石瓦礫(rubble)。
阿馬特里切的鎮長賽吉歐‧皮洛契(Sergio Pirozzi)於國營的義大利廣播電視公司(RAI)表示：「阿馬特里切鎮的四分之三都被震毀了。 我們現在主要的目標是盡可能的 救出更多的人。瓦礫堆下還傳出聲音，我們一定要救出那些人。」
民防局已證實，在罹難者中，光是阿馬特里切就有53人。
阿馬特里切的居民瑪麗亞‧吉亞尼(Maria Gianni)說：「天花板整個掉了下來，但沒有打到我。我及時抓了一個枕頭放在頭上，很幸運地沒被打到，只有腳受了傷。」
一名婦女坐在她毀損殆盡的房子前，在受訪時說，她還不知親友們的狀況如何。
她說：「阿馬特里切是義大利最美麗的小鎮之一，但現在什麼都不剩了。」
阿馬特里切的教區牧師(parish priest)薩彌諾‧達美里歐牧師(Rev. Savino D'Amelio)稱此為一場「極巨大的災難」。
逾80起的餘震(aftershock)
鄰近的馬爾凱大區(Marche)在清晨3點36分感受到地震的搖晃。根據《美國之音》(VOA)記者傑米‧德特莫(Jamie Dettmer)的說法，地震在距離震央諾爾恰市 90分 鐘車程的蒙泰菲奧雷德拉索市(Montefiore dell'Aso)也持續約30秒鐘。
《美國之音》記者德特莫表示，地震的強度與持續時間(duration)讓入住木蘭花飯店(Hotel Magnolia)的房客受到不少驚嚇。
房客因害怕餘震而撤離了(evacuate) 飯店。木蘭花飯店位處通往亞得里亞海(Adriatic)的河谷高處(perch)，俯視風景如畫般的(picturesque)河谷。
記者（德特莫）亦表示：「地震發生時，飯店內嘎吱作響(creak and groan)，長時間的搖晃(jolt)考驗著建築物的強度，但還好建築物挺住了(hold up)強震只在砌石牆的表面上造成一個小裂痕。」。
在飯店外，房客們上網搜尋(trawl)著新聞，並致電親友，確認他們的安危。
第二起較小的地震約在45分鐘後發生，持續了約20秒。再那之後還有一個餘震，也持續了約20秒。
記者（德特莫）表示，在最早發生的大地震之後，義大利各地已有80起以上有感的餘震。
「在拉吉歐大區(Lazio)、馬爾凱大區和溫布利亞大區內靠近中央地區的省分內的居民們無不繃緊神經(on edge)」，記者 （德特莫） 說道， 「2009年發生的地震摧毀(wreck)了拉奎拉市(L'Aquila)，造成309人喪生。很多人害怕這樣重大的災情(devastation)又再次發生。但至目前，地震影響最大的多是一些較小的鄉鎮。」
週三的這起地震發生在離拉奎拉市不遠的地方。
亡者大多住在阿庫莫利與阿馬特里切的村莊。另一個位於諾爾恰市東南方的村莊佩斯卡拉‧德‧特隆托(Pescara del Tronto)也在地震中夷為平地(level)。
在地震發生的幾天前，義大利中部也曾有小地震發生。
梵蒂岡(Vatican)方濟各教宗(Pope Francis)對受災的人民與城鎮表達沉痛的心情，並取消了部分公開接見(general audience)的活動來為災民祈禱。
國際救援
在溫布利亞大區這起造成重大傷亡的地震之後，德國領導人已對義大利表達了哀悼之意(condolences)並提供協助。法國也表示願意提供「所有必要的」協助。
歐盟主管危機處理的執委(commissioner)克里斯多斯‧斯蒂里亞尼迪斯(Christos Stylianides)則表示，歐盟的危機應變中心正與義大利的民防局聯繫，以進一步了解 義大利其他所需要的協助。
義大利的民防局表示，數百人在地震中受傷，另外還有許多人需要暫時的住所與安置(temporary housing)。
民防局局長法布里歐‧庫爾齊奧(Fabrizio Curcio)表示：「這種地震規模的地震若發生在這個深度，一般來說就會使區域內的建築物倒塌，因而造成死亡。」
搜救人員於拂曉(daybreak)後開始探尋受困在倒塌建築物的瓦礫堆中的人。
民防局人員安德烈‧詹提利 (Andrea Gentili) 向「美國聯合通訊社」(Associated Press) 表示：「我們需要電鋸(chain saw)、大剪(shears)來切開鐵條，還要起重器(jack)移開樑柱(beam)。我們需要所有的資源。」
（編按：「美國聯合通訊社」即日常新聞中常見的「美聯社」，其英文名稱 “Associated Press” 則常簡寫為 “AP”。）
達美里歐牧師表示：「我們非常祈望罹難人數能降到最低，並讓每一個人都有繼續向前的勇氣。」
近期義大利發生的地震(列表)
2001年7月，規模5.2的地震撼動了義大利北部的上阿迪傑大區(Alto Adige)，一名女性身亡。
2002年10月，坎波巴索省(Campobasso)規模5.9的地震造成30人死亡，其中大多數為孩童。
2009年4月，阿布魯佐大區(Abruzzo)的強震造成逾300人死亡。
2012年5月，近摩德納市(Modena)的地震造成16人死亡，350人受傷
Language Notes
death toll (n phr) 死亡人數
debris [dəˋbri] (n) 殘骸；破瓦殘礫
*注意本字字尾“s”並不發音，且為「不可數名詞」
infrastructure (n) 基礎建設，公共建設（如鐵路、公路、下水道等）
epicenter (n) 震央
*本字可分為兩部份：前半部為字首 “epi-”，指「在……之上」，後半部為名詞 “center”「中央；中心點」，讀者不妨可用「在地震中央（震源）之上的一點」來幫助理解此字
rubble (n) 碎石；瓦礫堆
*本字與前述 “debris” 一樣，為「不可數名詞」
parish (n) 教區
aftershock (n) 餘震
perch (v) （使）位於高處（或…...的邊緣）
picturesque [͵pɪktʃəˋrɛsk] (a) 圖畫般的，美麗的
jolt (n) 搖動；顛簸
trawl (v) 搜尋；網羅
*本字亦常用於表示「用拖網捕魚」
temblor [tɛmˋblɔr] (n) 地震（尤用於美式英文）
*注意本字重音在第二音節 -blor
tremor [ˋtrɛmɚ] (n) （地震的）顫動；微震，小地震
*本字常指地震發生前或發生後，地面出現的微幅顫動
on edge (prep phr) 緊張不安
wreck (v) 破壞；損害
*本字亦常用作「名詞」，表「船難事故」或「船難殘骸」，也可用於指車輛、飛機或房屋摧毀後的殘骸
level (v) 將…...夷爲平地，徹底摧毀
本字常做名詞使用，是「水準，程度；級別」的意思
condolence (n) 慰問；哀悼
*本字使用上常用複數型
daybreak (n) 拂曉；破曉；黎明
chain saw (n) 鏈鋸，電鋸
*本字亦有不分開寫的拼法，即“chainsaw”
shears (n) 大剪刀
*「剪刀」恆用複數型，如此處的shears，以及 “scissors”「剪刀」、“clippers”「剪刀；理髮剪；指甲鉗；樹剪」
jack (n) 起重器，千斤頂
beam (n) （尤指支撐建築物或結構）樑，棟樑
*本字亦常用來指「光線；光束」，例如 “a beam of light”「一道光束」
Check your vocabulary!
Fill in the blanks with a word or phrase from the list above. Make necessary changes. After you finish, highlight the blanks to reveal the hidden answers.
After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere .
The war has badly damaged the country's infrastructure.
The village is perched on top of a high hill.
The software is used to trawl for information on the internet.
The explosion shattered nearby windows and wrecked two cars.
You need a car jack in order to change a tyre.
The day after the explosion the death toll had risen to 90.
The initial earthquake was followed by a series of aftershocks.
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