日本推地震预警服务 手机可预报地震

　　In what has become a too-familiar experience in Tokyo, a crowded subway train screeches to a sudden halt. From around the car, mobile phones start to ring.

　　乘坐拥挤的地铁时发生地震在东京是再寻常不过的事情了。在地铁急刹车时，车厢内各个角落的手机开始响起来。

　　The sound is an emergency earthquake warning from an iPhone app that lets subscribers know when the quake will come, where the epicenterwill be located and how strong the shaking will be. Often, seconds after the phone rings, the shaking starts.

　　这一响声是iPhone的一款应用程序发出的紧急地震警报，让用户知道地震何时会来临，震中在哪个位置，以及地震强度有多大。通常，手机响后几秒钟，地震就会开始。

　　Following the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which have left nearly 28,000 dead and missing, Japan has been hit by hundreds of aftershocks of varying strengths.

　　在3月11日发生强震和海啸之后，日本已发生数百次强度各异的余震。这次强震和海啸已导致近2.8万人死亡或失踪。

　　The app called Yure Kuru, or shaking coming, was developed by RC Solution Co, a Tokyo-based firm that specializes in providing disaster-related information services, such as relaying warnings or letting people confirm the safety of friends and family.

　　这款应用程序名为Yure Kuru（地震来了），是由一家专门提供灾害信息服务的日本公司RC Solution研发的。该公司提供转发警报或帮助确认亲友的安全等服务。

　　"Emergency quake warnings began several years ago, but the equipment to receive them was quite expensive," said Akira Kuriyama, president of RC Solution.

　　RC Solution的总裁栗山明说：“紧急地震警报在几年前就有了，但是接收警报的设备相当昂贵。”

　　"We wondered if there wasn't a cheaper and easier way to provide this service, and we thought of smartphones."

　　“我们想知道是否有更廉价、更容易的方式来提供这一服务，于是我们想到了智能手机。”