海啸的速度比飞机还快?

EarthSky

Today how scientists can now accurately model how a tsunami will strike a coast – even half a world away.

当海啸还隔着半个地球那么远，科学家就能对海啸袭击海岸的过程建立精确模型。我们今天探讨科学家是如何做到这一点的。

Eddie Bernard: A tsunami’s unique in that not only does it do destruction locally like the earthquake, but then it exports its damage.

艾迪伯纳德：海啸不同于地震，其独特之处是不仅摧毁海啸发生地，还会使危害扩散。

That’s Dr. Eddie Bernard, director of the Pacific Marine Environmental laboratory in Seattle. He spoke to EarthSky about the tsunami that struck Chile in February in 2010, after a local magnitude 8.8 earthquake. Bernard said the tsunami then traveled throughout the Pacific.

艾迪伯纳德是西雅图太平洋海洋环境实验室的主任。在8.8级大地震后，2010年2月海啸也袭击了智利。伯纳德说这次海啸横穿太平洋。

Eddie Bernard: It was going about the speed of a jet, about 500 mph in the open ocean.

艾迪伯纳德：智利海啸转移的速度和喷气式飞机相当，在辽阔的海洋以500英里每小时的速度疾驰。

He said scientists at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii were able to determine that this tsunami didn’t pose a danger to U.S. shores, 11 hours away. Experts were measuring the tsunami wave, as it moved away from Chile.

他说太平洋海啸预警中心的科学家提前11小时预测这次海啸不会威胁美国海岸。当海啸从智利开始转移时，专家就测量了海啸波浪。

Eddie Bernard: And first instrumented deep ocean buoy we have had arrived at that location about three hours after the tsunami was generated. The forecasts were very accurate and showed that we would indeed experience strong currents along coastal areas, but there would be little or minor flooding.

艾迪伯纳德：海啸发生3小后我们的第一个深海浮标就测得了其位置。这次预测非常精准，它表明海岸沿线确实会波涛汹涌，但不会有洪涝灾害。

That’s coastal areas of Hawaii and the western U.S.. Hawaii still chose to issue an emergency evacuation as an extra precaution.

这是夏威夷和美国西部地区的海岸线。夏威夷为防患于未然仍通知紧急疏散。