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Japan s hydra-headed disaster日本的氢致灾难 The fallout 放射性尘埃 Some natural disasters change history. Japanstsunami could be one 有些自然灾害改变历史，日本的海啸会是其中之一 THAT tsunami is one of the few Japanese words inglobal use points to the countrys familiarity withnatural disaster. But even measured againstJapans painful history, its plight today is miserable.The magnitude-9 earthquakethe largest ever inthe countrys history, equivalent in power to 30,000 Hiroshimaswas followed by a wavewhich wiped out whole towns. With news dribbling out from stricken coastal communities, thescale of the horror is still sinking in. The surge of icy water shoved the debris of destroyedtowns miles inland, killing most of those too old or too slow to scramble to higher ground . The official death toll of 5,429 will certainly rise. In several towns over half thepopulation has drowned or is missing. 海啸是世界通用的为数不多的日语词汇之一，这说明自然灾害在日本已是习以为常。但是，即便从日本多灾多难的历史来看，现在它所面临的这场灾难也是非常悲惨的。里氏9级的地震是该国历史上最大的一次，释放出的能量相当于投放于广岛的原子弹的30000倍。强震之后，海浪咆哮而至，把一座座城镇完全吞没。从受困的滨海地区传来的零星消息表明，恐惧仍在加深。冰冷的海水把被毁城镇的废墟卷向几英里外的内陆，夺去了大多数由于年龄太大或行动太慢而未能转移到较高地方人们的生命。官方公布的死亡数字5249肯定会增加。在几座城镇，半数以上的居民溺死或失踪。 | 
