🇺🇸 영어 원문
A massive ‘megatsunami’ wave created when part of an Alaskan mountain crumbled into the sea is the second tallest ever recorded – and a reminder of the risks posed by melting glaciers, say scientists. Last summer a giant wave swept through a remote fjord in southeast Alaska leaving destruction in its wake. The event went largely unreported at the time, but a new scientific analysis shows it was caused by a massive landslide.
An incredible 64 million cubic metres of rock – the equivalent of 24 Great Pyramids – splashed into the water below. The sheer power of that amount of rock plunging into the fjord in under a minute created a gigantic wave almost 500 metres tall. Only the time it happened – in the early hours of the morning – prevented tourist cruise ships being caught up in the devastation, say the researchers.
Dr Bretwood Higman, an Alaskan geologist, who saw for himself the damage at Tracy Arm Fjord, said it was “a close call”. “We know that there were people that were very nearly in the wrong place,” he said. “I’m quite terrified that we’re not going to be so lucky in the future.”
These huge waves, labelled megatsunamis, happen when a landslide caused by either an earthquake or loose rock hit water below. They are usually localised and dissipate quickly. The other type of tsunamis happen in the open ocean and are directly triggered by earthquakes, or occasionally other powerful events such as underwater volcanoes. They, like the 2011 Japan tsunami, can travel for thousands of miles, hitting populated areas and causing widespread devastation and loss of life.
The biggest megatsunami was in the 1950s and was over 500 metres. This latest megatsunami was the second largest. Dr Higman arrived on the scene a few weeks after the tsunami hit at the Tracy Arm Fjord – a destination popular with cruise ships exploring the natural wonders of Alaska. He found broken trees littering the mountainside and hurled into the water, and vast swathes of scarred rock stripped of soil and vegetation. Alaska is especially vulnerable to megatsunamis because of its steep mountains, narrow fjords and frequent geological activity.
🇰🇷 한국어 요약
알래스카에서 산사태로 인해 발생한 초대형 쓰나미가 기록상 두 번째로 큰 규모였다는 소식이 전해졌습니다. 약 6,400만 입방미터의 암석이 바다로 떨어지며 약 500미터 높이의 파도를 만들었는데, 다행히 새벽 시간에 발생하여 관광 배들이 피해를 입지 않았습니다. 하지만 과학자들은 빙하가 녹으면서 이런 위험이 커지고 있다고 경고하고 있습니다. 일반 쓰나미와 달리 이 ‘메가 쓰나미’는 주로 산사태로 발생하며, 넓은 범위로 퍼지기보다는 국소적으로 큰 피해를 입히는 특징이 있습니다.
🔑 핵심 단어 (Vocabulary)
- Megatsunami – 초대형 쓰나미 – A massive wave created by a landslide or similar event.
- Landslide – 산사태 – The sliding down of a mass of earth or rock from a mountain or cliff.
- Glacier – 빙하 – A large mass of ice formed of snow that moves slowly down a mountain.
- Devastation – 파괴 – Severe and widespread damage to the environment or property.
- Localised – 국소적인 – Limited to a particular area rather than affecting a wide region.
- Dissipate – 소산되다/사라지다 – To disappear gradually or scatter.
- Vulnerable – 취약한 – Open to physical or emotional harm or damage.
- Geological – 지질학적인 – Related to the structure and history of the earth’s crust.
- Vegetation – 식생 – Plants growing in a particular area.
- Equivalent – 동등한 – Equal in value, amount, function, or meaning.
🔗 원문 링크
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1m253033m4o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss