Apowerfulearthquakemeasuring7.8hashitChina'ssouthernprovinceofSichuan,shakingbuildingsasfarawayasBeijing,ShanghaiandBangkok.
ItwasnotimmediatelycleariftherewereanycasualtiesordamagefromthetremorwhichthetheUSGeologicalSurvey(UGS)earlierputat7.8.
Theepicentreofthequakewas93kilometresnorthofChengdu.
Wenchuan,whichtookfullforceofthequake,hasapopulationof111,000people.
ItisinanethnicTibetanareainAbacountywhichrecentlysawviolentclashesbetweenTibetansandChineseauthorities.
Accordingtosomereportstherewasasecondearthquakemeasuring3.9whichhittheBeijingdistrictofTongzhouatroughlythesametime.
Telephonelinesintheaffectedareaarejammedandtherearestillnoreportsofcasualties.
ReportsfromThailandsayhighbuildingsinBangkokcontinuedtoshakeseveralminutesafterthetremorsbegan.
Wefeltcontinuousshakingforabouttwoorthreeminutes.Allthepeopleinourofficearerushingdownstairs.We'restillfeelingslighttremblings,saidanofficeworkerinChengdu.
China'stallestbuilding,theJinmaoTower,andotherhighrisebuildingsinShanghai'sfinancialdistrictwereevacuatedaftertremorswerefirstfelt.
Peoplewereshouting'getout,getout',soweallranoutofourdorm,saidastudentsurnamedZhangatauniversityinnearbyChongqing.
AspokesmanfortheChinaEarthquakeAdministrationsaiditwasstillcheckingtheepicentreandscaleofthetremor.
英语作文ChinaWenchuanearthquake
LikemanypeopleintheUK,theteamatBBCLearningEnglishhavebeenshockedandsaddenedbynewsoftheearthquakeinSichuanprovince.Wewouldliketoextendourcondolencestothoseaffectedbythisterriblenaturaldisaster.Belowisaspecialreportontheearthquakeandtherescueoperationstakingplace.
和在英国的很多人一样，BBC英语教学组的全体成员对五月十二号发生在四川省的地震消息感到震惊和悲痛。在这里我们对受害者表示最深切的哀悼，向那些受地震影响的人们深表同情。下面是对这次地震和地震营救行动的一篇特别报道。
RescueeffortsareunderwayinChina’sSichuanprovincefollowingMonday’sdevastatingearthquake灾难性的地震,whichmeasured7.9ontheRichterScale里氏震级.
AccordingtoXinhuanewsagency,nearly15,000peoplehavediedinthedisaster,withasmanyas24,000moretrappedunderrubble碎石，碎砖fromcollapsingbuildingsandanother14,000declaredmissing申报失踪.
PrimeMinisterWenJiabaohasvisitedtheareatopersonallyoverseereliefwork（抗震）救灾工作,andisflyingtotheepicentre震中oftheearthquaketoday.
Chinesetroopshavebeenmobilised调动tocarryoutrescueoperationsandemergencyaid紧急救护hasbeenair-dropped空降intoareasthathavebeencutoffbythedisaster.
Badweatherhashampered阻碍reliefeffortsandinsomecasesrescuershavehadtotrekintothedisasterarea受灾地区byfootandsearchfortrappedsurvivors生还者byhandasroadshavebeenblockedbydebris瓦砾碎片.
Someresidentsoftheprovincialcapital首府Chengduhavechosentosleepintentsandgovernmentsheltersforfearofaftershocks余震causingmoredamage.
OnewitnessinChengdutoldtheBBCthecity’spopulationishelpingthereliefworkbydonating捐献foodandwaterforthoseaffectedinthesurroundingcountryside.
Financialaid经济救助hasbeenpouringin大量涌进fromalloverChina,withtheChinesegovernmentpledginghundredsofmillionsofdollars.Substantialdonationsfromothercountriesandhumanitarianorganisationshavealsobeenpledged承诺，给予（援助）.
Althoughfullcasualtyfigures伤亡数字arenotyetcertain,itisclearthatMonday’searthquakeistheworsttostrikeChinasincetheTangshanearthquakeof1976.
An英语作文：Whatisearthquake?
earthquakeistheresultofasuddenreleaseofenergyintheEarth'scrustthatcreatesseismicwaves（地震波）.Earthquakesarerecordedwithaseismometer（地震检波器）,alsoknownasaseismograph（地震仪）.Themomentmagnitudeofanearthquakeisconventionallyreported,ortherelatedandmostlyobsoleteRichtermagnitude(里氏量级）,withmagnitude3orlowerearthquakesbeingmostlyimperceptible感觉不到的andmagnitude7causingseriousdamageoverlargeareas.IntensityofshakingismeasuredonthemodifiedMercalliscale（麦加利震级,麦氏震级）.
AttheEarth'ssurface,earthquakesmanifestthemselvesbyashakingandsometimesdisplacement（位移）oftheground.Whenalargeearthquakeepicenter（震中）islocatedoffshore,theseabedsometimessufferssufficientdisplacementtocauseatsunami（海啸）.Theshakinginearthquakescanalsotriggerlandslidesandoccasionallyvolcanicactivity.
Initsmostgenericsense,thewordearthquakeisusedtodescribeanyseismicevent—whetheranaturalphenomenonoraneventcausedbyhumans—thatgeneratesseismicwaves.Earthquakesarecausedmostlybyrupture（破裂,裂开）ofgeologicalfaults（断层）,butalsobyvolcanicactivity,landslides,mineblasts,andnuclearexperiments.
Anearthquake'spointofinitialruptureiscalleditsfocusorhypocenter.Thetermepicentermeansthepointatgroundleveldirectlyabovethis.