THE EARTHQUAKE IN LOS ANGELS

At 4.31 in the morning on January 17, 1994 a violent earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale occurred in Los Angels. It was an unpleasant wake-up call for everybody in the city. The quake killed sixty people, destroyed or damaged more than three thousand houses and brought down ten bridges. Many people were under debris.

The survivors of the quake felt violent tremors, the quake threw items of furniture, doors, parts of the houses, cars, trees around like toys. One of the residents who lived in a multistoreyed building said: “A wall fell on me. I couldn’t move my head. I was in a trap for five hours with injuries to my ribs, collar-bone and lungs.” The cost (вартість) of the damage was nearly twenty billion dollars. The cause of this quake was the movement (рух) in the mountain fault system. The fault is a crack between two giant pieces (величезними пластами) of the Earth’s crust. One of these pieces, situated under the Pacific Ocean, moves at an average of about four centimetres every year.

If an earthquake occurs, authorities advise people to stay calm (залишатися спокійними) and if possible to take shelter under a bed or a table. Panic leads to rash actions which may result in injury or even death. Being in a quake is a traumatic experience. Psychologists say that some people are scared all the time after the earthquake, while (в той час) others try to persuade themselves that it won’t happen again. Some residents of California buy emergency supplies, nail down their belongings and make plans for what they should do in case of another quake. Unfortunately there is a ninety per cent chance of at least one more earthquake happening in California in the next thirty years.

The good news is that the Californian authorities take these predictions seriously. Engineers work much to strengthen the steel frames of buildings and other structures such as bridges. They hope that this will lessen structural damage during the next earthquake.

earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale землетрус, силою 6.7 балів

за шкалою Ріхтера

wake-up call ранкове пробудження

to bring down зруйнувати

to be under debris знаходитися під уламками

survivors ті, хто вижили під час землетрусу

to feel violent tremors відчувати сильні поштовхи, тремтіння

to throw розкидати

to fall падати

ribs ребра

collar-bone ключиця

lungs легені

mountain fault геологічний розлом

crack тріщина

the Earth’s crust земна кора

at an average в середньому

authorities влада

to advise радити

to lead to rash actions призвести до поспішних дій

experience досвід

to be scared бути наляканим

to try намагатися

to persuade переконувати

to buy emergency supplies купувати запас продуктів на випадок нс

to nail down one’s belongings підготувати речі першої необхідності

steel frame стальний каркас

to lessen зменшувати

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