万物简史 第289期:砰!(24)

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　　who chanced to look in the right direction would see a bewildering veil of turmoil¹ followed by instantaneous oblivion. 恰好看着那个方向，他会见到一片混乱，接着顿时被湮没其中。

　　Within minutes, over an area stretching from Denver to Detroit and encompassing² what had once been Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, the Twin Cities, 不出几分钟，从丹佛到底特律的广大地区，包括曾经是芝加哥、圣路易斯、堪萨斯城、姐妹城的地方，

　　the whole of the Midwest, in short——nearly every standing³ thing would be flattened⁴ or on fire, and nearly every living thing would be dead. 一句话，整个美国中西部，差不多每个直立的东西都会被夷为平地或燃起大火，差不多每个生物都会死亡。

　　People up to a thousand miles away would be knocked off their feet and sliced or clobbered⁵ by a blizzard⁶ of flying projectiles⁷. 远在1500公里以外的人会被一阵飞弹击倒在地、撕成碎片或狠揍一顿。

　　Beyond a thousand miles the devastation⁸ from the blast would gradually diminish. 到了1500公里以外，爆炸的破坏程度会逐渐减小。

　　But that's just the initial shockwave. 但是，那仅仅是第一轮冲击波。

　　No one can do more than guess what the associated damage would be, other than that it would be brisk and global. 有关的破坏程度大家只能猜猜而已，但无疑会是很严重的，全球性的。

　　The impact would almost certainly set off a chain of devastating⁹ earthquakes. 撞击肯定会引发一连串破坏性极大的地震。

　　Volcanoes across the globe would begin to rumble¹⁰ and spew. 全球的火山会开始隆隆作响，喷出火焰。

　　Tsunamis¹¹ would rise up and head devastatingly¹² for distant shores. 海啸会高高隆起，涌向远方的海岸，造成极大的破坏。

　　Within an hour, a cloud of blackness would cover the planet, 不出一个小时，地球会一片漆黑，

　　and burning rock and other debris¹³ would be pelting¹⁴ down everywhere, setting much of the planet ablaze¹⁵. 燃烧的岩石和其他碎物到处飞舞，把这颗行星的大部分地方变成一片火海。

　　It has been estimated that at least a billion and a half people would be dead by the end of the first day. 有人估计，到第一天过去的时候，至少会有15亿人没了性命。

　　The massive disturbances¹⁶ to the ionosphere would knock out communications systems everywhere, 对电离层的巨大干扰会使各地的通信系统陷于瘫痪，

　　so survivors¹⁷ would have no idea what was happening elsewhere or where to turn. 因此幸存者无法知道别处在发生的事，往哪里逃命。

　　It would hardly matter.  这也已几乎无关紧要。

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