Upwards of 50，000 people are feared to have been killed after an enormous earthquake caused tremendous damage across Sichuan province.

在此次強(qiáng)烈地震中遇難人數(shù)恐怕超過(guò)了5萬(wàn)，四川省受災(zāi)嚴(yán)重。

The earthquake， which struck at 2:28 pm on the 12th of May， measured 8.0 on the Richter scale. Damage was centered on Wenchuan County， northern Sichuan， but tremors were felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai.

5月12日下午2點(diǎn)28分發(fā)生的地震震級(jí)達(dá)到了里氏8.0級(jí)。震源位于四川省北部的汶川縣，然而在千里之遙的北京和上海均有震感。

The Sichuan provincial seismological bureau said more than 1，180 tremors， reaching up to 6.0 on the Richter scale， were recorded over a 24-hour period.

四川省地震局有關(guān)人士稱24小時(shí)內(nèi)已發(fā)生余震1180次，最強(qiáng)震級(jí)達(dá)到了里氏6.0級(jí)。

At the time of writing， official figures report 32，477 people confirmed dead (19th May). Sichuan Vice-Governor Li Chengyun said the death toll included: 11，874 in Mianyang， 10，341 in Deyang City， 4156 in the provincial capital Chengdu， 2586 in Guangyuan City， and 2871 in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture.

截至筆者寫(xiě)稿時(shí)，官方統(tǒng)計(jì)出已有32477人遇難（5月19日）。四川省副省長(zhǎng)李成云透露了遇難人員情況：綿陽(yáng)11874人，德陽(yáng)10341人，成都4156人，廣元2586人，阿壩藏族羌族自治州2871人。

Premier Wen Jiabao flew immediately to Sichuan to co-ordinate the relief effort， which included more than 110，000 soldiers from the PLA and countless civilian volunteers.

國(guó)家總理溫家寶在地震發(fā)生后當(dāng)即飛往四川指揮救援工作，有超過(guò)11萬(wàn)名解放軍戰(zhàn)士和無(wú)數(shù)市民志愿者參加救援。

But rescue workers were hampered by severe weather conditions and roads blocked off by earthquake damage at the beginning of the rescue. It took a brigade of PLA soldiers nearly 36 hours to reach the epicenter of the earthquake in Wenchuan county， where aid organizations estimate 60，000 people to be missing.

但是一開(kāi)始惡劣的天氣條件和被地震阻斷的道路影響了救援人員開(kāi)展工作。解放軍某部一個(gè)旅的兵力花費(fèi)36小時(shí)到達(dá)震中汶川縣，救援部門(mén)估計(jì)有6萬(wàn)人下落不明。

In the town of Yinxiu， 30 Air Force soldiers on exercise helped rescue over 300 residents from the wreckage.

30名空軍士兵在映秀鎮(zhèn)從廢墟中救出300余人。

But of an estimated population of 10，000， only 2，000 have been accounted for at the time of writing. The soldiers were unable to proceed very far with the rescue due to a lack of equipment， according to one local official.

但是截至筆者發(fā)稿時(shí)，在大約1萬(wàn)人中只找到了2000人。一名地方官員稱，由于缺少設(shè)備，部隊(duì)無(wú)法深入進(jìn)行救援。

\"They could hear people under the debris calling for help， but no one could reach them， because there were no professional rescue teams，\" said a local administrator.

當(dāng)?shù)匾幻賳T說(shuō)：“他們可以聽(tīng)見(jiàn)廢墟下被壓的人們的呼救聲，然而卻無(wú)能為力。因?yàn)闆](méi)有專業(yè)的救援隊(duì)伍?！?/p>

In Dujiangyan， 900 students and teachers were trapped when Juyuan Middle School collapsed， burying them under the rubble. People were forced to sleep on the streets and in their cars because of the fear of further aftershocks， and giant earthmoving vehicles were brought in to help clear the wreckage.

都江堰的聚源中學(xué)坍塌時(shí)，有900名師生被埋在了廢墟中。因?yàn)閾?dān)心發(fā)生余震，人們不得不露宿街頭或者在車(chē)?yán)镞^(guò)夜，不少大型挖掘機(jī)被調(diào)來(lái)清理廢墟。

One man told the BBC that his uncle was trapped， injured in the ruins of his apartment block. Although he was able to contact his uncle on his mobile phone， he could not get to him through the rubble.

有人告訴BBC記者他叔叔被困了，在房子的廢墟中受傷。盡管他可以通過(guò)手機(jī)聯(lián)系到叔叔，但是卻無(wú)法在碎石斷壁中接近他。

The nearby town of Shifang， where two chemical plants collapsed， releasing a huge toxic cloud， reported around 600 dead and up to 2，300 still buried.

在臨近的什邡，兩家化工廠坍塌，大量有毒氣體泄露，據(jù)報(bào)道有600人遇難，2300多人仍被埋廢墟之中。

Premier Wen promised no effort would be spared to rescue those trapped and take care of the survivors. He also expressed frustration that the rescue efforts were being held up by the awful weather. \"The disaster is worse than expected， and the rescue sites are quite complex，\" he admitted to Xinhua journalists.

溫家寶總理承諾，政府將不遺余力地?fù)尵缺焕罕姴⒄疹櫤眯掖嬲?。他還表示由于惡劣的天氣原因?qū)е戮仍ぷ魇茏?。溫總理這樣對(duì)新華社記者說(shuō)：“這場(chǎng)災(zāi)難比我們預(yù)想的要嚴(yán)重，救援地點(diǎn)情況又十分復(fù)雜?！?/p>

Over 2，500 mobile phone masts were knocked out and three internet lines were cut， making communications with the province difficult.

2500多座移動(dòng)電話基站被震倒，三條互聯(lián)網(wǎng)光纜中斷，這使四川省的通訊變得十分困難。

The region is also home to the Wolong Nature Reserve， one of China's largest breeding sites for the Giant Panda. Despite initial fears， all the pandas in the reserve were safely accounted for. Panda research centres across Sichuan were inundated with calls from concerned panda fans， asking if the pandas were okay.

該地區(qū)也是臥龍自然保護(hù)區(qū)的所在地，這里是中國(guó)最大的熊貓繁育研究中心。盡管當(dāng)初有所擔(dān)心，但熊貓還是安全地度過(guò)了此次地震。喜歡熊貓的人們不斷地往四川境內(nèi)的所有熊貓研究所打電話詢問(wèn)熊貓的安全狀況。

\"Pandas are very resilient. All they need is a tree to sleep in and some bamboo to eat，\" said one of the vets at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Base. \"They're perfectly capable of surviving a natural disaster like this.\"

成都熊貓繁育基地的一名獸醫(yī)說(shuō)：“熊貓的要求不高。只需一棵可供棲息的樹(shù)有竹子吃就可以。它們有能力在這樣的災(zāi)害中生存下來(lái)。”

US President George W Bush contacted Beijing to express his condolences to the families of the quake victims， while the US， UK， Czech Republic， European Union， Japan， South Korea and Taiwan all banded together to offer aid. French chain Carrefour offered 2 million RMB to the government to help provide food and equipment.

美國(guó)總統(tǒng)喬治#8226;布什對(duì)在地震中遇難的家屬表示慰問(wèn)，與此同時(shí)，美國(guó)、英國(guó)、捷克斯洛伐克、歐盟、日本、韓國(guó)以及中國(guó)臺(tái)灣均表示會(huì)提供幫助。法國(guó)家樂(lè)福公司捐助200萬(wàn)人民幣以幫助政府提供食物和設(shè)備。

（文中沒(méi)有刊登無(wú)法證實(shí)的數(shù)據(jù)）