【雅思趣味阅读】尼泊尔大地震后 喜马拉雅山矮了1米

小站前言：北京时间5月12日15:05分,尼泊尔再次发生7.5级地震、古城在遭受浩劫。在这场地震中，科学家通过卫星影像量测，发现喜马拉雅山在4月底的尼泊尔大地震后，矮了一米。不过科学家同时也表示，地壳活动将让喜马拉雅山缓慢隆起，平衡因地震沉降的高度。

"The primary stretch that had its height dropped is a 80-100km stretch of the Langtang Himal (to the northwest of the capital, Kathmandu)," said Richard Briggs, a research geologist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

美国地质勘探局(USGS)的研究地质学家理查德·布里格斯说道：“此次地震主要影响了绵延80-100公里的(加德满都首都西北面)蓝塘峰群，其高度有所下降。”

The Langtang range is the region where many locals and trekkers are still missing, presumed dead, after the avalanches and landslides that were triggered by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 25 April.

4月25日发生的7.8级地震引发了雪崩和滑坡，蓝塘山脉所在地区有很多当地居民和越野者仍旧属于失踪状态，或据推测已死亡。

Scientists believe the height of a handful of other Himalayan peaks, including the Ganesh Himal to the west of the Langtang range, may also have dropped.

科学家认为，喜马拉雅山脉峰顶的一小部分高度，包括加内西西马尔到蓝塘山脉的西面，可能也下降了。

The satellite images they have analysed so far have focused on central Nepal, which was the hardest hit by the quake. Everest is to the east of this main shaking zone.

至今为止，他们分析的卫星图像都专注于尼泊尔中心——该地区在地震中遭受了最强烈的冲洗。珠穆朗玛峰位于主震区的东面。

Scientists say whether or not the world's highest peak saw a change in its height by few centimetres will have to be further confirmed by ground survey and GPS or an airborne mission.

科学家称，世界最高峰的高度是否下降了几厘米还需地面测量和GPS还有空中任务的进一步确认。

"But what we see in the data that we evaluated further away from the plate boundary, to the north of the capital Kathmandu, is a clearly identifiable region with subsidence of up to 1.5m," says Christian Minet, a geologist with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), which processed the Nepal earthquake data sent by the Sentinel-1a satellite.

“不过我们通过进一步板块边缘估计的数据观察显示，加德满都首都向北，很显然可辨认的区域下沉了多达1.5米，”德国宇航局(DLR)的地质学家克里斯丁·米内特分析了由卫星Sentinel-1a发送过来的尼泊尔地震数据说道。