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This is Parkfield,
这里是帕克菲尔德
a tiny hamlet in the middle of California.
加州中部的一个小村落
Few people ever come here, and even fewer stay.
人迹罕至 居民更是少之又少
But this village lies on
但是这座村庄位于
top of the infamous San Andreas Fault,
恶名昭著的圣安地列斯断层的顶部
and once looked like it held the key
而且曾一时被认为是
to understanding earthquakes.
了解地震的关键地
It all began when a team of geologists led by John Langbein
故事要从一队由约翰·朗拜领导的地质学家
noticed something unusual about little Parkfield.
发现帕克菲尔德的一些反常现象说起
It was, er, in the '70s and early '80s it was recognised
上世纪70到80年代初 人们发现
that there was a sequence of magnitude six earthquakes
连续数次的六级地震
that repeated the same stretch of the San Andreas Fault
反复发生在圣安地列斯断层带同一段断层上
every 20-odd years
每次地震间隔20多年
and it didn't take too much imagination to extrapolate and say
所以不用多想就能推断说
the next one ought to be in the late '80s.
下一次地震应该会发生在80年代后期
The village had always suffered from earthquakes,
帕克菲尔德一直饱受地震侵袭
but these quakes followed a very distinct pattern.
而这些地震遵循一条非常独特的规律
Langbein's team decided to use Parkfield
朗拜的团队决定利用帕克菲尔德
for a bold and unprecedented experiment.
进行一次大胆而空前的实验
To see what happened to the ground
来研究地震发生前
before an earthquake struck.
地面的变化
Estimating that the quake would occur
由于估计地震会在
between 1987 and 1993,
1987到1993年间发生
scores of geologists descended onto Parkfield.
大量地质学家涌入帕克菲尔德
