专家：2018年全球强震或增至20次这些地区的民众要警惕_BEC初级作文

专家：2018年全球强震或增至20次这些地区的民众要警惕

Scientists have warned there could be a big increase in numbers of devastating earthquakes around the world next year. They believe variations in the speed of Earth’s rotation could trigger intense seismic activity, particularly in heavily populated tropical regions.

科学家警告称，明年，世界各地发生灾难性地震的次数可能会大幅度增加。他们认为，地球自转速度的变化可能引发强烈的地震活动，特别是在人口稠密的热带地区。

Although such fluctuations in rotation are small – changing the length of the day by a millisecond – they could still be implicated in the release of vast amounts of underground energy, it is argued.

尽管地球自转的波动幅度非常小，对一天的时间长短影响不过千分之一秒，但有科学家认为，这一变化仍然可能引发大量地下能量释放。

专家：2018年全球强震或增至20次这些地区的民众要警惕1

The link between Earth’s rotation and seismic activity was highlighted last month in a paper by Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado in Boulder and Rebecca Bendick of the University of Montana in Missoula presented at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.

美国科罗拉多大学科学家罗杰•比尔汉姆与蒙大拿大学教授瑞贝卡•本迪克10月在美国地质学会年会发表研究报告，指出了地球自转和地震活动之间的联系。

“The correlation between Earth’s rotation and earthquake activity is strong and suggests there is going to be an increase in numbers of intense earthquakes next year,” Bilham told the Observer last week.