輕易淹沒城市
Tsunamis are powerful waves that have taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. They are not the same type of waves you can see at the beach every day.
海嘯是奪取數以萬計性命的強大海浪，跟你每天在海邊看到的那種海浪不一樣。
take someone’s life = to kill someone 奪走某個人的性命
The common wave is generated by wind as it blows over the ocean’s surface, transferring energy to the water and displacing it.
一般的海浪是由風吹過海面所形成的，將能量轉移到海水中並使其移動。
generate (v.)產生transfer (v.)轉移
In contrast, tsunamis are created by an entirely different mechanism.
對比之下，海嘯是由完全不同的方式所產生的，
in contrast 對比之下mechanism (n.)機制；defense mechanism 防禦機制
An underwater earthquake, volcanic eruption or landslide displaces a large amount of water, and the energy is released in a series of waves.
是由地底地震 、火山噴發或山崩推動大量的海水，而其能量則釋放於一波波的海浪中，
eruption (n.)噴發
The energy in tsunami waves extends across the entire depth of the ocean.
海嘯波浪的能量可深達海洋底部。
depth (n.)深處,深度
In the open ocean, tsunami waves can be small and possibly even undetectable by a boat on the ocean’s surface. But as the tsunami approaches land, the seafloor rises and all the wave energy gets compressed.
在海洋，海嘯波浪可能很小，可能甚至無法被海面上的船隻偵測到，但隨著海嘯靠近岸邊，海床升高，海浪的能量因而被壓縮，
undetectable (adj.)無法被偵測到的compress (v.)壓縮
This results in the waves getting taller and taller as they approach shore. Eventually, the tsunami waves become like a wall of water that can easily flood a city.
這導致海浪靠近岸邊時變得愈來愈高。最後，海嘯波浪變得像是水牆，可以輕易地淹沒一座城市。
result in 導致,引起
Fortunately, tsunamis are rare compared to the typical wind-generated wave, but they are often much more destructive.
幸運的是，海嘯跟一般因風而形成的海浪比起來，相對較罕見，但是通常破壞力比較大。
rare (adj.)罕見的
That’s why around 225,000 people lost their lives in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and more than 20,000 were killed in the 2011 Japan tsunami.
這也是為什麽在2004年南亞大海嘯造成約22.5萬人喪生，而2011年日本海嘯則有超過2萬人死亡。
Indian Ocean印度洋