周三，三次连续强烈余震袭击智利中南部地区。在上周六凌晨发生8.8级大地震后，余震进一步加剧了这个国家的混乱。
Three big, successive aftershocks shook Chile's south-central regions Wednesday, further rattling a nation already on edge after the massive 8.8 magnitude quake that struck it early Saturday.
由于周三的余震，比奥比奥与马乌莱地区海岸发出了当地海啸警报。这是在上周六地震及其引发的海啸当中受损最严重的两个地区。
Wednesday's temblors triggered local tsunami alerts along the coasts of the Bio Bio and Maule regions, the two hardest hit by Saturday's quake and an ensuing tsunami.
道琼斯通讯社记者现场报道，塔尔卡瓦诺港口，在尖叫的警笛声中，已经惊恐不安的居民纷纷逃往高地。
Blaring sirens sent already nervous residents scurrying for higher ground in the seaport of Talcahuano, reported Dow Jones Newswires journalists at the scene.
据当地电台的播报，在沿海城镇康塞普西翁和孔斯蒂图西翁也听到了海啸警报。上述三个城镇都受到了上周六地震和海啸的严重损坏。上周六的地震是智 利半个世纪以来遭受的最强烈地震。
Tsunami alerts were also heard in the coastal towns of Concepcion and Constitucion, according to local radio broadcasts. All three towns were ravaged by Saturday's quake, the worst to hit Chile in half a century, and tsunami.
但周三余震后并没有发生海啸。据美国地质调查局(U.S. Geological Survey)初步测定，余震震级从5.9到6.3级不等。
But no tsunami followed Wednesday's aftershocks, the magnitudes of which ran from 5.9 to 6.3 in preliminary readings by the U.S. Geological Survey.
智利国家应急办公室在周三地震发生数分钟后发表声明说，并没有发布海啸预警。
Chile's National Emergency Office, known as Onemi, issued a statement minutes after Wednesday's temblor saying no tsunami alert was being issued.
总统巴切莱特(Michelle Bachelet)领导的政府因未能在上周六地震过后及时发布海啸预警而饱受批评。政府起初表示，不存在发生海啸的危险，但过后世界各国都发出了预警。
The administration of President Michelle Bachelet has come under stinging criticism for failing to declare a tsunami alert shortly after Saturday's earthquake. The government at first said there was no danger of tsunamis, but then alerts were issued internationally.
对马乌莱和比奥比奥沿海地区来说，这些预警为时已晚。大地震和随后的巨浪相继给两个地区造成了毁灭性打击。
Those alerts came too late for the shoreline communities of Maule and Bio Bio. They were devastated, first by the massive earthquake and then by gigantic waves.
在接近800人的已证实死亡人数中，超过一半来自这两个地区。
More than half of the nearly 800 confirmed dead have come from the two regions.