汤加火山爆发，简直惨绝人寰

Asia

亚洲版块

Tonga's volcanic eruption

汤加火山喷发

A kingdom cut off

被切断的王国

The scale of the damage remains unclear

损失的规模尚不清楚

WORD CAME at last.

消息终于传来了。

Three days after Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano in the Kingdom of Tonga erupted on January 15th, the prime minister's office released a statement.

1月15日，汤加王国的洪阿汤加·洪阿哈阿帕伊火山爆发三天后，首相办公室发表了一份声明。

The eruption was an "uNPRecedented disaster" for the archipelago and three deaths were confirmed.

这次火山爆发对该群岛来说是一场“前所未有的灾难”，已致3人死亡。

The blast created a vast ash cloud and led to a tsunami (two people drowned across the Pacific ocean in Peru).

火山爆发形成了巨大的火山灰云团，并且引发了海啸（两人在太平洋彼岸的秘鲁溺水身亡）。

Explosions of volcanic gas were audible more than 2,000km away in New Zealand and plumes of gas rose more than 20km into the sky.

在2000多公里外的新西兰可以听到火山气体的爆炸声，气体的羽流上升到20多公里的高空。

In a biblical flourish, pebbles rained down on the Tongan capital, Nuku'alofa, located some 65km south of the volcano.

在大规模火山爆发中，鹅卵石雨点般地落在汤加首都努库阿洛法，该城位于火山以南约65公里处。

The eruption was driven by subduction, a process whereby one of Earth's tectonic plates (in this case the Pacific one) sinks beneath the edge of another (in this instance the Indo-Australian one).

这次火山喷发是由俯冲驱动的，即地球的一个板块（本例中为太平洋板块）下沉到另一个板块（本例中为印度-澳大利亚板块）边缘之下的过程。

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai sits within the “Ring of Fire”, a geological fault line encircling the Pacific.

洪阿汤加·洪阿哈阿帕伊位于“火山带”内，这是一条环绕太平洋的地质断层线。

Tongans call the islands afflicted by the region's frequent earthquakes those which "jump back and forth".

汤加人称受该地区频繁地震影响的岛屿叫“反复跳跃岛”。

The volcano is 1,800 metres tall (measured from the sea floor) and takes its name from the two parts of the rim of its crater, or caldera, which, before the latest blast at least, rose above the sea: Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha'apai.

这座火山高1800米（从海底测量，至少在最近的一次爆炸之前，火山口曾高出海面），因其火山口边缘的两个部分而得名：洪阿汤加和洪阿哈阿帕伊。

Shane Cronin, a volcanologist at Auckland University, reckons that the latest eruption probably came from the caldera itself.

奥克兰大学的火山学家沙恩·克罗宁认为，最近的一次喷发可能来自火山口本身。

An eruption in December 2014 filled the gap between the volcano's two islands with ash, joining them.

2014年12月的一次火山喷发用火山灰填补了火山两个岛屿之间的空隙，将它们连接在一起。

"The island's formation also probably seeded its destruction," says James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre.

美国宇航局戈达德航天飞行中心首席科学家詹姆斯·加文说：“该岛的形成可能也是其毁灭的种子。”

"As it rose from the sea, layers of liquid magma filled a network of chambers beneath it."

“当它从海上喷发升起时，一层层的液态岩浆填满了它下面网状的岩浆洞室。”

When the magma in those chambers erupted on January 15th, the vast explosion in the seas and skies seems to have been coupled with an implosion in the rocks below as some of those chambers collapsed, undermining the caldera and its rim.

当这些岩浆在1月15日喷发时，海洋和天空中的巨大爆炸似乎伴随着下面岩石的内爆，其中一些洞室坍塌，破坏了火山口及其边缘。

Satellite images now show that only a chunk of one of the former islands remains visible.

卫星图像现在显示，只有一块以前的岛屿是可见的。

The true number of deaths among the country's 100,000 people is unknown.

该国10万人的真实死亡人数尚不清楚。

So is the extent of damage to crops, villages and livelihoods.

农作物、村庄和生计的破坏程度也不清楚。

Communication with Tonga was possible only by satellite phone initially; the submarine cable that connects it to Fiji and thence to the outside world was severed.

最初只能通过卫星电话与汤加通信；接着，连接斐济和外界的海底电缆被切断。

Repairs could take weeks as the closest repair vessel is 2,500km away.

由于最近的维修船与之相距2500公里，维修可能需要数周时间。

Flights in and out of Tonga were suspended at first, owing to ash on the international airport's runway.

起初，由于国际机场跑道上的火山灰，进出汤加的航班暂停。

Flights carrying aid are now arriving.

现在，载有救援物资的航班已经抵达。

New Zealand and Australia have sent surveillance flights over the archipelago to assess the damage.

新西兰和澳大利亚已经在群岛上空派出了监视航班，以评估损失。

Reports suggest that roads and bridges have been destroyed, though the airport is intact.

报告显示，尽管机场完好无损，但道路和桥梁已被摧毁。

Grim satellite images show heaps of ash smothering entire islands.

凄凉的卫星图像显示，成堆的火山灰笼罩着整个岛屿。

Emergency workers are handing out food, water and tents, according to the prime minister's office.

根据总理办公室的消息，紧急救援人员正在分发食物、水和帐篷。

Water is particularly vital: many Tongans capture fresh rainwater from their roofs to drink.

水尤其重要：许多汤加人从屋顶收集新鲜雨水饮用。

Ash has probably contaminated it.

但是火山灰可能污染了雨水。

Navy ships carrying aid from Australia and New Zealand are on the way.

载有澳大利亚和新西兰援助物资的海军舰艇正在途中。

The hope is they do not also carry covid-19.

希望他们没有携带新冠病毒。

Tonga's only case so far was caught at its border; one disaster must not lead to another.

汤加迄今为止唯一的一例是在其边境被抓获的；不要一波未平一波又起。