But the size of this one, 7.7 on the magnitude scale.

但這次的震級高達 7.7 級。

Makes it one of the largest in living memory for the millions of people impacted by its shock waves.

對於受其衝擊波影響的數百萬人來說，這使其成為人們記憶中最大的衝擊波之一。

And that's what you can see here, a shake map showing the intensity of ground movement estimated by the US Geological Survey, this dark orange is violent shaking, likely resulting in high casualties and extensive building damage.

這就是你在這裡可以看到的，一張震動地圖顯示了美國地質調查局估算的地面運動強度，深橙色為劇烈震動，很可能造成大量人員傷亡和大面積建築物損壞。

It's a populated area too, the city of Mandalay has 1.2 million inhabitants, the capital Yangon, millions more.

這裡也是一個人口稠密的地區，曼德勒市有 120 萬居民，首都仰光則有數百萬居民。

But images of extensive damage are coming in from across Myanmar and beyond, suggesting the force and destruction of this quake was widespread.

但來自緬甸各地和其他地區的大量破壞圖片表明，這次地震的破壞力和破壞範圍很廣。

All made worse of course by aftershocks, the worst a magnitude 6.4 shock happening close by just minutes after the main quake.

當然，餘震使情況變得更糟，最嚴重的一次是在主震發生幾分鐘後，附近發生了 6.4 級地震。

Myanmar straddles the boundary between the vast Eurasian tectonic plate and the Indian plate that's moving slowly north, piling up stress on the rocks beneath.

緬甸橫跨巨大的歐亞大陸板塊和印度板塊之間的邊界，印度板塊正在緩慢向北移動，給下方的岩石造成了巨大壓力。

Specifically along the 1,200 km long Sagaing fault line running right next to Mandalay and many other populous cities.

具體來說，這條長達 1200 公里的實皆斷層線緊鄰曼德勒和其他許多人口眾多的城市。

The quake happened when the strain on that fault was suddenly released and in geological terms at least at a shallow depth, just 10 kilometers or six miles down.

地震發生時，斷層上的應力突然釋放，從地質學角度看，至少是在很淺的地方，也就是地下 10 公里或 6 英里的地方。

And the closer the surface, the greater the damage, locally that's in the form of intense shaking due to high frequency vibrations, but lower frequency shock waves travel further.

越靠近地表，破壞就越大，在局部地區表現為高頻振動造成的強烈晃動，但低頻衝擊波的傳播距離更遠。

And tall buildings are most vulnerable to the slower movement they cause, perhaps explaining the collapse of tower blocks as far away as the one under construction in Bangkok.

而高樓最容易受到它們造成的較慢運動的影響，這也許就是遠在曼谷的在建高樓倒塌的原因。

Previous earthquakes in Myanmar have caused damage like this to some of its oldest buildings, but this is the most powerful quake in this region since the 1940s, predating modern earthquake building codes.

緬甸以前發生的地震曾對一些最古老的建築造成過這樣的破壞，但這次地震是自 20 世紀 40 年代以來該地區發生的最強烈的地震，比現代地震建築規範還要早。

The fear is some older structures that survived previous quakes won't have endured this one, and of course it's the buildings in which people live that are the greatest risk factor when it comes to earthquake casualties.

人們擔心的是，一些在前幾次地震中倖存下來的老式建築在這次地震中將無法倖免，當然，人們居住的建築才是造成地震傷亡的最大風險因素。