BBC Learning English
Words in the News
6th September 2010
New Zealand begins earthquake clear-up
New Zealand has declared an official state of emergency following a massive earthquake that
caused extensive damage to the country's second largest city, Christchurch. As the clean-up
operations begin, officials say many buildings remain unsafe. Shirley Gordon reports:
The working week has begun in Christchurch but people in many parts of the city speak of an
eerie quiet, with the streets still strewn with rubble and shattered glass.
No buses are running and thousands of people are off work because the central business
district remains cordoned off; some 90 buildings in this area have yet to be declared safe and
police say there's a risk from falling masonry and glass.
Some residents are still without anywhere to stay; around 150 people had to spend another
night in welfare centres. Schools are closed and sewage is leaking from broken pipes,
threatening water supplies. Officials from the Ministry of Civil Defence say aftershocks have
continued since Saturday, and the threat of more  up to a magnitude of six  will remain for
the next week. Predicted gale-force winds never made it to Christchurch on Sunday, but
there's been heavy rain, doing nothing to help the clean up efforts.
Shirley Gordon, BBC News, London
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2010
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Vocabulary and definitions
eerie strange and frightening
strewn covered untidily
rubble piles of broken stones and bricks
shattered broken into tiny pieces
cordoned off placed behind a rope barrier to prevent people from
entering
masonry bricks and stones used to make buildings
welfare centres buildings to provide shelter for vulnerable people,
particularly homeless people
sewage human waste
aftershocks smaller earthquakes that happen after the main earthquake
gale-force winds very strong movements of air
More on this story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11191105
Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2010/09/100906_witn_new_zealand_earthquake_page.shtml
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2010
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bbclearningenglish.com