问:雷利博士,在今后几年内美国发生大地震的可能性有多大?答:一场将造成严重的财产破坏和重大死亡的大地震在加利福尼亚是不可避免的。这样的大地震(M≥8)每年发生的可能性仅有百分之几。听起来这并不很高,但关键是我们知道加利福尼亚在过去120年内已发生过三次这样的大地震,而且在今后30年左右将发生另一次 Q: Dr. Raleigh, how likely is a major earthquake in the United States in the next few years? A. A large earthquake that will cause serious property damage and major deaths is inevitable in California. The probability of such a major earthquake (M ≥ 8) occurring annually is only a few percent. It does not sound very high, but the point is that we know that California has seen three such earthquakes in the past 120 years and that another one will happen in the next 30 years or so