This Day in History September 21 歷史上的今天 9月21日

There have been many recent stories about the destruction in New Zealand, Haiti, and Chile from earthquakes. For many people, these events are a reminder of some dark days in Taiwan's own history. On this date in 1999, the 7.6-magnitude "Quake of the Century" hit the island in the early morning. This natural disaster was also the second-deadliest earthquake in Taiwan's history. Over 2,400 people were killed, 11,000 were injured, and 100,000 were left homeless. The government's slow response to the disaster caused a lot of political trouble. Luckily, local and international aid finally arrived and helped those that desperately needed it.

近來有許多關於紐西蘭、海地和智利地震的災情頻頻傳出。對許多人來說，這些事件讓他們想起台灣史 上一些黑暗的日子。1999年的今天，一場規模7.6的「世紀大地震」於凌晨襲擊本島。這場天災也是台灣史上死傷第二嚴重的地震，總計造成2千4百多人死 亡、1萬1千多人受傷，以及10萬多人無家可歸。而政府對這場災害的應變速度遲緩，還引發了許多政治風波。所幸來自國內外的各種援助終於到位，幫助了那些 急需協助的人。

單字片語

★destruction n. 破壞；毀滅
★destructive a. 有破壞力的；危害的
例：These kinds of insects are destructive to many plants.（這些種類的昆蟲會對許多植物造成危害。）
★reminder n. 提醒之物
例：The ring is a reminder of the time we spent together.（這只戒指讓我想起我們一起共度的時光。）
★magnitude n.（地震的）強度，震級
★disaster n. 災害，災難
★desperately adv. 急切地；絕望地
例：The fly was desperately trying to escape the web before the spider came back.（這隻蒼蠅拚命想在蜘蛛回來前逃離蜘蛛網。）

知識大補帖

台灣史上死傷最嚴重的地震發生於1935年4月21日早晨6點2分的「新 竹-台中地震」，因震央（epicenter）位於現今苗栗縣三義鄉鯉魚潭水庫及關刀山一帶，又名關刀山地震、后里大地震或墩仔腳大地震，其芮氏規模 （Richter magnitude scale）達7.1，造成新竹州及台中州（約今新竹縣市、苗栗縣、台中縣市）3276人死亡，1萬2053人受傷，房屋全倒達1萬7907戶，半倒則有3萬6781戶，是台灣有史以來傷亡最慘重的天災，死傷第二嚴重的地震則是921大地震（圖為位於車籠埔斷層的光復國中，災後成為921地震教育園區，資料照片）。