地震难以避免，但是我们至少可以做到把损失降到最低；海地当前的最大灾难来源于大面积坍塌的建筑，5.12地震中最令人痛心的也是质量不过关的建筑倒塌事件；下面文章中也不止一次提到了加强建筑条例这个问题，希望将来在这些地震多发地带能有更好更完善的预防措施，医院、学校、公寓等地方能成为地震袭来是安全的避难所。

Los Angeles 洛杉矶

　　Earthquakes have always been part of Los Angeles' past — and its future. The geologic record indicates that huge quakes occur roughly every 150 years in theregion. Los Angeles has done a lot to beef up its building codes and emergency response in the 15 years since the Northridge quake andmay be better prepared than any other major U.S. city, but its sheersize ensures that the next Big One will be bloody。

　　过去，地震对于洛杉矶来说是家常便饭，将来也是这样。地址记录显示这一地区大地震发生频率大约为每一百五十年一次。自从1994年北岭大地震，这15年来洛杉矶从未放松过规范建筑条例和增强应急措施，因此比起其他美国大城市，在这方面准备都更加充分，但由于面积关系，如若发生大地震，后果仍然不可估量。

Tokyo 东京

　　Japan's four main islands get hit regularly with earthquakes of varying strength, and most Japanese live in extraordinarily dense cities. That puts more people squarely in a danger zone — nowhere more so than in the capital of Tokyo, which has a population of 13 million.A major quake struck the city and its surroundings in 1923, killing asmany as 150,000 people. Although Japan has vastly improved its infrastructure since then and has the strictest building codes in the world, a similar temblor — which seismologists believe is almost inevitable — could kill more than 10,000 people and cause more than $1 trillion in damages。

　　日本四个主要岛屿经常遭受不同强度的地震袭击，而且大部分日本人居住在人口密度相当大的城市，这意味着有更多人分布在危险区域——尤其是东京，人口高达一千三百万。1923年一场地震发生在东京和周边地区，导致十五万人丧生。虽然自那时起日本加强了基础设施建设，其建筑条例之严格性也位居世界之首，一场类似的地震——地震学家认为无可避免——也会导致一万多人丧生，并造成超过一万亿美元损失。

Tehran 德黑兰

　　Allof Iran lies within a major earthquake zone, and the country hassuffered terrible temblors before. But a similar quake in the congestedcapital of Tehran would be a shattering catastrophe. Unlike building codes in other endangered cities such as San Francisco and Tokyo, Tehran's are relatively lax, and many residents live in the sort of unreinforced-concretehouses that turn into death traps in the event of a strong quake. TheIranian Health Ministry once estimated that a 7-magnitude quake woulddestroy 90% of the city's hospitals。

　　整个伊朗地处一个主要地震带，也经历过多次地震袭击。然而在人口拥堵的首都德黑兰，一次这样的地震可能成为翻天覆地的大灾难。不像其他经历过地震的城市如旧金山、东京，德黑兰的建筑条例并不严格，许多人住在未经加固的混凝土建筑中，如若发生地震，那里立刻就会成为死亡地带。伊朗卫生部部长曾说过，一场七级地震就可能毁掉德黑兰90%的医院。

Pacific Northwest 西北太平洋沿岸

　　Cascadia sits on top of major faults, and although it doesn't get hit very often, the region has seen massive quakes before. The geologic record indicates that a catastrophic quakehits Cascadia only about every 500 years, but the cities of the PacificNorthwest, like Seattle and Vancouver, are far less prepared than SanFrancisco and Los Angeles for a major earthquake, so when the nextpowerful temblor comes around, the region could suffer。

　　卡斯开底亚地区位于主要断层的高处，虽然不长发生地震，历史上也曾有过大地震袭击。地质记录表明这里每500年才会发生毁灭性的地震。西北太平洋沿岸的城市，如西雅图和温哥华，都不像旧金山和洛杉矶那样对地震准备充足，所以下一次爆发大地震时，这一块地区很可能受灾严重。

Indonesia 印尼

　　It's called the Ring of Fire, a semicircle of violently shifting plates and volcanoes that runs along the edges of the Pacific Ocean, from New Zealand to Chile. The most seismically active region on the planet, the Ring of Fire has triggered countless quakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.Indonesia, a region that has been hit repeatedly by massive temblors,most recently a 7.6 earthquake in September that killed more than 1,000people. Sadly that's a relatively small quake death toll by Indonesianstandards — and seismologists expect more to come in the future。

　　这里被称为火圈带，从新西兰到智利，一个半圆形的急速移动板块和火山群绵延于太平洋上，使之成为地球上最容易发生地震的区域。火圈带中已经发生过无数次地震、火山爆发和海啸。印尼是一个反复遭受地震袭击的地方，最近的一次是在九月份，震级7.6，一千多人丧生。不过根据印尼一贯的标准来看，这个死亡人数还太不足道——地震学家认为未来会发生更可怕的地震。