科學家在全球範圍內徵集'地震表情'

A worldwide design campaign aimed at finding a proper emoji to represent an earthquake has recently caught the attention of social media users.

近日，一項旨在尋找象徵地震的合適表情的全球性設計活動引起社交媒體用戶的關注。

A group of scientists initiated the campaign in a bid to use "the world's fastest-developing language" to help better spread earthquake information and make a difference during an emergency.

爲了用“世界上發展最快的語言”更好地傳播地震信息，能在緊急情況下產生更大的作用，一科學家團隊發起了這項活動。

"Although there is an emoji for other natural disasters and weather events, there is no universal emoji for earthquakes and ground shaking," said campaign founder Stephen Hicks.

活動發起人史蒂芬·希克斯表示：“雖然其他自然災害和天氣事件有表情符號，但地震和地面震動並沒有通用的表情符號。”

The seismologist at the University of Southampton, together with seven other researchers from the US, France and Costa Rica, advertised the campaign on social media platforms including Twitter. Designs should be submitted by July 14, 2018.

這位來自南安普敦大學的地震學家，和來自美國、法國、哥斯達黎加的另外7名研究人員一起，在推特等社交媒體平臺上宣傳這項活動。設計作品須在2018年7月14日前提交。

A final shortlist of four emoji designs will be judged by the eight scientists based on the criteria "evocative, simple, universal and distinctive."

這8位科學家將基於“引起共鳴、簡單、通用和與衆不同”的標準選出最終進入決賽的4個表情。

The shortlist will be posted on Twitter so that netizens can vote for a winner.

決賽作品將會貼在推特上，以便網友能選出優勝作品。

"Having a concise, internationally-universal way of describing an earthquake that breaks language barriers could have important implications for mitigating their hazards, and maybe even saving lives," Hicks said on the main page of the campaign website.

希克斯在活動網站的主頁面上寫道：“用一種簡潔的、國際通用的方式來描述一場打破語言障礙的地震，可能對減輕地震帶來的危害有重要的意義，甚至還可以挽救生命。”