3:54
5.2 级：广西柳州凌晨地震
Guangxi 5.2: An Earthquake in a Place That Rarely Has Them
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 4 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 12 key vocabulary words such as 新闻、找、帮助 and walks through 4 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
5 月 18 号，凌晨。
May 18, the early morning.
广西出了一件事。
Something happened in Guangxi.
是地震。
It was an earthquake.
什么是地震？
What is an earthquake?
地震就是地动了。
An earthquake is when the ground moves.
地在动，
The ground moves,
房子也在动。
and the houses move too.
很多人都怕。
Many people are scared.
地震在哪儿？
Where was the earthquake?
在中国的南方。
In southern China.
在广西。
In Guangxi.
广西是中国南方的一个大地方。
Guangxi is a big region in southern China.
广西有很多人。
Guangxi has many people.
有五千万。
Fifty million.
地震的中间，
The center of the earthquake
是柳州。
was Liuzhou.
柳州是广西的一个大城市。
Liuzhou is a big city in Guangxi.
柳州里，
In Liuzhou,
住着差不多四百万人。
about four million people live.
地震的时候，
The time of the earthquake
是凌晨 0 点 21 分。
was 0:21 in the early morning.
就是晚上 12 点多。
That's a little after midnight.
大家都在睡。
Everyone was sleeping.
5 月 17 号的晚上，
On the evening of May 17,
柳州其实已经地动了三次。
Liuzhou had actually already shaken three times.
都不大。
All small.
2.5 级，
Magnitude 2.5,
3.0 级，
3.0,
3.2 级。
3.2.
人有感觉，
People felt them,
可是没有事。
but nothing happened.
可是到了 5 月 18 号的凌晨，
But by the early morning of May 18,
一下子，
all of a sudden,
地大动了。
the ground shook hard.
5.2 级。
Magnitude 5.2.
5.2 级是什么意思？
What does 5.2 mean?
不大，
Not big,
也不小。
not small either.
人会感觉到。
People can feel it.
小的、老的房子，
Small, old houses
可能会倒。
might fall.
大的新房子，
Big new buildings
一般不会倒。
generally don't fall.
这个地震，
This earthquake
让柳州的人都醒了。
woke up everyone in Liuzhou.
大家都跑出去。
Everyone ran outside.
有人在外面哭。
Some cried outside.
有人在外面打电话。
Some made phone calls outside.
有人在外面找家里的人。
Some looked for their family outside.
地震不只在柳州。
The earthquake wasn't only in Liuzhou.
南宁也动了，
Nanning shook too,
桂林也动了。
Guilin shook too.
香港也动了。
Hong Kong shook too.
很多地方的人都说：
People in many places said:
"我也感觉到了。
"I felt it too.
这一次地震，
In this earthquake,
13 栋房子倒了。
13 houses collapsed.
3 个人不见了。
3 people are missing.
4 个人不太好。
4 people are not doing well.
还有 7000 多个人，
And more than 7,000 people
今天晚上不能住在自己的家里了。
can't sleep in their own homes tonight.
现在大家都在帮。
Right now everyone is helping.
医生来了，
Doctors have come,
救人的人来了。
rescuers have come.
中国别的地方的人也来了。
People from other parts of China have come too.
为什么这个地震，
Why is this earthquake
让大家这么注意？
getting everyone's attention?
第一，
First,
广西不是地震多的地方。
Guangxi is not a place with many earthquakes.
中国地震多的地方，
The places in China with many earthquakes
是西边。
are in the west.
四川，
Sichuan,
云南，
Yunnan,
新疆。
Xinjiang.
广西的地震，
Earthquakes in Guangxi
很少。
are rare.
中国南方的人，
People in southern China
平时不太知道地震是什么感觉。
don't usually know what an earthquake feels like.
所以这次，
So this time,
大家都很怕。
everyone was very scared.
第二，
Second,
是凌晨地震。
it was an early-morning earthquake.
凌晨是大家睡的时候。
Early morning is when everyone is sleeping.
睡的时候地震，
An earthquake when you're sleeping
人不知道怎么办。
means people don't know what to do.
跑也来不及。
There's no time to run.
所以更怕。
So it's even scarier.
第三，
Third,
广西的老房子比较多。
Guangxi has many old houses.
新房子还好，
New houses are okay,
老房子可能会倒。
old houses can fall.
所以这次倒的，
So the ones that fell this time
都是老房子。
were all old houses.
最后，
Finally,
我想跟你说：
I want to tell you:
如果你以前没有看见过地震，
If you've never seen an earthquake before,
你不知道地震是什么感觉。
you don't know what an earthquake feels like.
你可以学一下。
You can study a little.
你住的地方，
Where you live,
有没有地震？
are there earthquakes?
你的家里，
At home,
有没有可以拿就走的东西？
do you have things you can grab and go?
比如水，
Like water,
比如吃的东西。
like food.
这些都很重要。
These are all important.
广西的人，
The people of Guangxi
现在最需要大家的帮助。
need everyone's help right now.
我们看新闻，
We watch the news,
也可以帮。
and we can help too.
中国一直都是这样：
China has always been like this:
一个地方有事，
when something happens in one place,
别的地方都来帮。
other places come to help.
好。
Okay.
今天就到这里。
That's all for today.
明天再聊。
Talk tomorrow.
News. The framing — 我们看新闻，也可以帮 (we watch the news, and we can also help).
To look for, to seek. After the quake, '有人在外面找家里的人' — people stood outside looking for their family.
To help; help. 'They need everyone's 帮助 right now.' Both noun and verb in Chinese — context decides.
Important. The narrator's call to action: '这些都很重要' — preparing water and food at home is important.
To cry. '有人在外面哭' — some people were crying outside, in the dark, after the shaking stopped.
Time, moment. Used constantly with 的 to mark when something happens: 地震的时候 = 'at the time of the earthquake'. Also 什么时候 = 'when?'
Earthquake. 地 (ground) + 震 (to shake). The episode explains it inline as 地动了.
A city. Liuzhou is described as a 大城市 (big city) with about 4 million people. 城 (city wall) + 市 (market).
The early morning hours (roughly midnight to dawn). The earthquake hit at 凌晨 0 点 21 分 — just after midnight, when everyone was asleep.
To fall over, collapse. 房子倒了 = the house collapsed. Different from 摔倒 (a person falls down).
House, building. The episode contrasts 新房子 (new buildings, generally don't fall) with 老房子 (old buildings, more likely to fall).
To be afraid. 很多人都怕 — many people were scared. Often used as a one-syllable verb; the disyllabic 害怕 is more formal.
* beyond level超纲词
可是 + clause (contrast)
可是 = 'but,' the conversational counterpart of the more formal 但是. The episode pivots on it: small foreshocks, 可是 then a 5.2 hit.
可是到了 5 月 18 号的凌晨，一下子，地大动了。
可是这个地震，没有很大。
第一... 第二... 第三...
Numbered enumeration. The narrator breaks 'why is this earthquake notable' into three clean reasons. A pattern any explainer-style Chinese audio uses constantly.
第一，广西不是地震多的地方。
X 的时候 + clause
Standard time-marker. The episode uses it for the disaster moment — 睡的时候地震 (an earthquake when you're asleep), which carries the whole danger of timing in one phrase.
睡的时候地震，人不知道怎么办。
比如 + Noun (example marker)
比如 introduces an example. The narrator uses it in the practical advice section — 比如水，比如吃的东西 — 'like water, like food.' Compact, conversational, useful any time you list examples.
比如水，比如吃的东西。