The first quake was alarming enough — a rumble more powerful than anything felt in Taiwan for a quarter-century, lasting for more than a minute on Wednesday morning, knocking belongings and even whole buildings askew. It was so strong it set off tsunami warnings in Japan, China and the Philippines.
第一次地震已经足够令人担忧了——周三早上的轰隆声比四分之一个世纪以来台湾所感受到的任何一次地震都更强烈，震感持续了一分多钟，震碎物品，甚至将整栋建筑物震歪。地震强度大到触发了日本、中国和菲律宾的海啸警报。
But then, even in a fault-riddled place with long and hard experience with earthquakes, the jolt of aftershock after aftershock was startling, continuing every few minutes throughout the day.
但是随后，即使是在这样一个断层遍布、长期遭受严重地震灾害的地方，一次又一次的余震也令人震惊，余震持续了一整天，每几分钟就发生一次。
The magnitude-7.4 quake killed nine and injured more than 900 others, stretching an expert quake response system that has served as a model in other places. More than 50 people remained trapped Wednesday evening. Forty flights were canceled or delayed. Around 15,000 households were without water, and 5,000 households were without power.
这场7.4级的地震已造成九人死亡，900多人受伤，使被其他地方誉为典范的专业地震响应系统不堪重负。截至周三晚间，仍有50余人被困。40个航班被取消或延误。约15000户家庭停水，5000户停电。
Tsai Kuang-Hui, a retired teacher in Hualien, on the island’s east coast, near the epicenter, said that residents were choosing to remain outside. “I’m trying to fix a broken water pipe. There’s a lot of water and gas pipes that have been broken,” he said by phone.
花莲退休教师蔡光辉（音）表示，居民们选择留在外面。“我在想办法修一根断掉的水管。很多水管和瓦斯管都坏了，”他在电话中说。花莲位于台湾东海岸，靠近地震震中。
Many residents had been at home, getting ready for work and school, when the quake struck. Others were driving on highways or had already set off on early hikes in Taiwan’s national parks ahead of a four-day holiday. After the main quake stopped, people across the island fled on to the streets to assess damaged buildings and quickly text friends and family members reassurances and pictures of broken belongings.
地震发生时，许多居民正在家里准备去上班和上学。还有的正在高速公路上行驶，或者在为期四天的假期开始之前已出发去台湾的国家公园远足。主震停止后，台湾各地的人们逃到街上，查看受损的建筑物，赶紧向朋友和家人发去报平安的短信和损坏物品的照片。
But almost immediately, people felt the stomach-jolting lurch of an aftershock. Taiwan is earthquake-prone, and minor tremors are common, but these continued every few minutes throughout the day. By 3 p.m., there had been 101 subsequent shocks, with at least one tremor of magnitude 6.5 and many over magnitude 5.
但人们几乎马上就感受到了余震带来的恐惧。台湾是地震多发地区，小型地震很常见，但这次余震持续了一整天，每隔几分钟就有一次。截至下午3点，已发生101次余震，其中至少有一次震级达到6.5级，多起在5级以上。
Officials said more aftershocks were likely in the next four days and warned residents to avoid visiting the tombs of ancestors, especially in the mountains, this weekend during the holiday, known as Ching Ming, meant to honor them. The forecast called for rain, which could make travel conditions on damaged roads more treacherous.
官员们表示，未来四天可能会发生更多余震，并警告居民避免在本周末的清明假期期间去祭祖，尤其是在山上的墓地。天气预报称会下雨，可能会导致经由受损道路的出行更加危险。
Although the earthquake will reverberate for a long time because it was so large, over 100 aftershocks was not unheard-of, for a quake of this magnitude, said Yi-Ying Wen, an earthquake expert at National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan. “We should expect that the size of the aftershocks will slowly get smaller and smaller over the next two weeks.”
台湾国立中正大学地震专家温怡瑛表示，如此强烈的地震会回荡很长时间，但以此次地震的震级之高，余震超过100次都属于正常。“接下来我们就会期待余震的规模会越来越小, 大致上可能会在一两个礼拜的时间。”
The heaviest damage was in Hualien County, a lush, scenic area prone to earthquakes.
受灾最严重的是花莲县，这是一个苍翠繁茂、风景优美的地区，容易发生地震。
In the city of Hualien, the county seat, rescuers were focused on a brick building with glass windows called the Uranus Building, which had partially collapsed and was leaning heavily to one side. Residents emerged through windows and climbed down ladders, assisted by rescuers.
在花莲县县治所在地花莲市，救援的重点是天王星大楼，这座有玻璃窗的砖砌建筑已部分倒塌，严重向一侧倾斜。居民们在救援人员的帮助下爬出窗外，然后爬梯子下去。
The fire department said one person in the building had died, while around two dozen others had been evacuated. Search efforts continued, but it was not immediately clear how many people were stuck in the building.
消防部门表示，大楼内有一人死亡，20余人得到疏散。搜寻工作仍在继续，但目前尚不清楚有多少人被困在大楼里。
Peggy Jiang, who manages The Good Kid, a children’s bookstore down the street from the partially collapsed Uranus Building, said it was a good thing the store had yet to open when the quake struck. “Most people in Hualien are used to earthquakes,” she said. “But this one was particularly scary, many people ran into the street immediately afterward.”
佩吉·江（音）在部分倒塌的天王星大楼所在的街道经营着一家名为孩好书屋的儿童书店，她表示，地震发生时，幸好书店尚未开业。“大多数花莲人都习惯了地震，”她说。“但是这次特别可怕，很多人立刻就跑到街上了。”
Rescuers were also trying to free dozens of people trapped elsewhere in the county, including on hiking trails. Three hikers were killed by falling rocks on a trail in Taroko National Park, a popular site famed for a gorge that cuts through mountains that rise steeply from the coast.
救援人员还试图解救该县其他地方被困的数十人，包括远足小径上的人。三名徒步旅行者在太鲁阁国家公园的一条小路上被落石砸死。该公园是一个受欢迎的景点，以一道贯穿海岸陡峭山脉的峡谷而闻名。
The county government opened evacuation areas where people could take shelter, such as high school gymnasiums and athletic fields, as aftershocks continued to roll through the area.
由于余震不断，县政府开放了供人们避难的疏散区，如高中体育馆和田径场。
Derik du Plessis, a 44-year-old South African who has lived in Hualien for 17 years, described chaos and panic on the streets after the earthquake as people rushed to pick up their children and check on their houses.
44岁的南非人德里克·杜普莱西斯在花莲生活了17年，他描述了地震发生后街道上的混乱和恐慌，人们急忙去接孩子和查看房屋。
Roads were blocked off, he said, and walls had toppled onto cars. “Right now people seem to have calmed down, but a lot of people are sitting on the road,” he said. “They don’t want to go into the buildings because there are still a lot of tremors.”
他说，道路被封锁，墙壁倒塌压在汽车上。“现在人们似乎已经平静下来，但有很多人坐在路边，”他说。“他们不想进到建筑里面，因为还有很多震感。”
Lin Jung, 36, who manages a shop selling sneakers in Hualien, said he had been at home getting ready to take his 16-month-old baby to a medical appointment when the earthquake struck. At first it felt like a series of small shocks, he said, then “suddenly it turned to an intense earthquake shaking up and down.” The glass cover of a ceiling lamp fell and shattered. “All I could do was protect my baby,” he said.
36岁的林融在花莲经营一家运动鞋店，他说地震发生时他正在家里准备带16个月大的孩子去看医生。他说，起初感觉是一连串的小震动，然后“突然变成比较剧烈的上下行地震”。一盏吸顶灯的玻璃罩掉了下来，摔得粉碎。“所以我就先护着小婴儿，”他说。
The quake also jolted the island’s west coast, toppling one building in Changhua County entirely. Many rail services were halted as the authorities inspected tracks for damage.
地震还波及到了台湾西海岸，使彰化县的一栋建筑完全倒塌。由于当局要检查铁轨受损情况，许多铁路服务被迫中断。
The earthquake struck during the morning commute, shortly before 8 a.m., at a depth of 22 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
据美国地质勘探局称，地震发生在早上上班时间，即上午8点前不久，震源深度为35千米。
Taiwan is at the intersection of the Philippine Sea tectonic plate and the Eurasian plate, making it vulnerable to seismic activity. Hualien sits on multiple active faults, and 17 people died in a quake there in 2018.
台湾位于菲律宾海板块和欧亚板块的交汇处，因此很容易受到地震活动的影响。花莲位于多个活跃断层上，2018年有17人在一场地震中丧生。
The earthquake hit Taiwan as many people here were preparing to travel for Tomb Sweeping Day on Thursday, when, across the Chinese-speaking world, people mourn the dead and make offerings at their graves. The holiday weekend would typically see a spike in travel as people visit family across Taiwan.
地震发生时，许多台湾人正在为周四的清明节出行做准备，在华语世界中，人们在这一天悼念逝者，并到墓前祭奠。通常，人们会到台湾各地探亲，因此周末假期会出现出行高峰。
The authorities were working to restore rail services in Hualien and two-way traffic on the highways in the region, said Wang Guo-cai, the island’s transport minister, at a news conference.
台湾交通部长王国才在新闻发布会上表示，政府正在努力恢复花莲的铁路服务和该地区高速公路的双向交通。
TSMC, the world’s biggest maker of advanced semiconductors, briefly evacuated workers from its factories but said a few hours later they were returning to work. The company said its safety systems were operating normally and that it was still assessing the impact. TSMC’s fabs are clustered along Taiwan’s west coast, away from the epicenter of the earthquake.
世界最大的先进半导体生产商台积电一度疏散了工厂的工人，但几小时后又表示他们将返回工作岗位。该公司表示，其安全保障系统运行正常，目前仍在评估影响。台积电的工厂集中在台湾西海岸，远离震中。
All personnel were safe, the company said. Still, chip production is highly precise and even short shutdowns can cost millions of dollars.
该公司表示，所有人员都安然无恙。尽管如此，芯片生产是高度精密的工作，即使短暂停产也会造成数百万美元的损失。
Taiwan’s earthquake preparedness has evolved over the past few decades in response to some of the island’s largest and most destructive quakes. In 1999, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in Taiwan killed nearly 2,500 people.
过去几十年来，台湾的地震防备工作不断发展，以应对岛内一些规模最大、破坏性最强的地震。1999年，台湾发生7.6级地震，造成近2500人死亡。
That quake, which struck about 90 miles south-southwest of Taipei, was the second-deadliest in the island’s history, according to the U.S.G.S. and the Central Weather Administration. More than 10,000 people were injured and more than 100,000 homes were destroyed or damaged.
根据美国地质勘探局和中央气象局的数据，当年那场地震发生在台北西南偏南约145公里处，是该岛历史上死亡人数第二多的地震。超过1万人受伤，超过10万栋房屋被毁或受损。
In the years since then, the authorities established an urban search-and-rescue team and opened several emergency medical operation centers, among other measures. And in 2018, after a quake in the eastern coastal city of Hualien killed 17 people and caused several buildings to partially collapse, the government ordered a wave of building inspections.
在那之后的几年里，政府成立了一支城市搜救队，开设了多家紧急医疗行动中心，另外还有一些措施。2018年，东部沿海城市花莲发生地震，造成17人死亡，多栋建筑部分倒塌，政府下令开展了一系列建筑质量检查。
Taiwan has also been improving its early warning system for earthquakes since the 1980s. And two years ago, it rolled out new building codes that, among other things, require owners of vulnerable buildings to install ad hoc structural reinforcements.
自20世纪80年代以来，台湾也一直在改进地震预警系统。两年前，台湾推出了新的建筑法规，其中包括要求易损建筑的业主安装临时结构加固装置。
孟建国(Paul Mozur )对本文有报道贡献。
Meaghan Tobin是时报科技记者，常驻台北，报道亚洲地区的商业和科技新闻，重点关注中国。
Victoria Kim是时报驻首尔记者，主要报道全球各地突发新闻。
储百亮(Chris Buckley)是《纽约时报》首席中国记者，在台北报道中国和台湾问题，重点关注政治、社会变革以及安全和军事问题。
Mike Ives是时报驻首尔记者，报道全球突发新闻。
Siyi Zhao是时报记者/研究员，自首尔报道中国大陆新闻。
John Yoon是时报驻首尔记者，报道突发新闻和热门新闻。
翻译：Koney Bai、Ziyu Qing
