1 Japanese Earth-quake and Tsunami

1. 日本大地震引发海啸

An earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale struck the north-east coast of Japan on March 11 and triggered a massive tsunami that led to the death of almost 16,000 people.

3月11日，日本东北部海域发生了里氏9.0级的大地震，进而引发大规模海啸，造成近1.6万人死亡。

In addition to this enormous loss of life and the destruction of infrastructure, the tsunami also caused a number of nuclear accidents.

海啸除了造成巨大人员伤亡以及基础设施的毁坏，还引发一系列核泄露事故。

This included a level 7 meltdown at three reactors in the Fukushima No 1 Nuclear Power Plant complex and saw the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of neighboring residents. According Naoto Kan, the Japanese prime minister at the time, “In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan.

其中，福岛第一核电站发生了7级事故，三个核反应堆熔毁，数十万周边居民被疏散。据时任日本首相菅直人称，“此次大地震是日本战后65年以来遭遇的最艰难的危机。

In the immediate aftermath, around 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water.

地震海啸带来的最直接后果是，日本东北部地区有约440万户居民断电，150万户断水。

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