Sichuan Wenchuan Earthquake

 

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is visiting the area

Like many people in the UK, the team at BBC Learning English have been shocked and saddened by news of the earthquake in Sichuan province. We would like to extend our condolences to those affected by this terrible natural disaster. Below is a special report on the earthquake and the rescue operations taking place.

和在英国的很多人一样，BBC 英语教学组的全体成员对五月十二号发生在四川省的地震消息感到震惊和悲痛。在这里我们对受害者表示最深切的哀悼，向那些受地震影响的人们深表同情。下面是对这次地震和地震营救行动的一篇特别报道。

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Rescue efforts are underway in China's Sichuan province following Monday's devastating earthquake 灾难性的地震, which measured 7.9 on the Richter Scale 里氏震级.

According to Xinhua news agency, nearly 15,000 people have died in the disaster, with as many as 24,000 more trapped under rubble 碎石，碎砖 from collapsing buildings and another 14,000 declared missing 申报失踪.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has visited the area to personally oversee relief work （抗震）救灾工作, and is flying to the epicentre 震中 of the earthquake today.

Chinese troops have been mobilised 调动 to carry out rescue operations and emergency aid 紧急救护 has been air-dropped 空降 into areas that have been cut off by the disaster.

Bad weather has hampered 阻碍 relief efforts and in some cases rescuers have had to trek into the disaster area 受灾地区 by foot and search for trapped survivors 生还者 by hand as roads have been blocked by debris 瓦砾碎片.

Some residents of the provincial capital 首府 Chengdu have chosen to sleep in tents and government shelters for fear of aftershocks 余震 causing more damage.

One witness in Chengdu told the BBC the city's population is helping the relief work by donating 捐献 food and water for those affected in the surrounding countryside.

Financial aid 经济救助 has been pouring in 大量涌进 from all over China, with the Chinese government pledging hundreds of millions of dollars. Substantial donations from other countries and humanitarian organisations have also been pledged 承诺，给予（援助）.

Although full casualty figures 伤亡数字 are not yet certain, it is clear that Monday's earthquake is the worst to strike China since the Tangshan earthquake of 1976.