The earthquake and ensuing tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 took untold thousands of lives and caused billions of dollars of damage - and for certain businesses, like oil refiners, the worst may be yet to come.
这次3月11日发生在日本的大地震及其引发的海啸摧残了成千上万的生命并造成数十亿美元的破坏，但对于某些具体的企业，如石油精炼行业，最坏的可能还在后头。
That's because the vast amounts of seawater that crashed ashore on the eastern edge of the island of Honshu are highly corrosive. The long-term damage that the water causes could be much more severe than what was caused by the quake itself, experts told Reuters.

这是因为大量的冲击本州岛东部沿海的海水具有强腐蚀性。这些强腐蚀性海水所带来的长期破坏比地震本身带来的破坏要严重的多，专家告诉路透社记者。
"If pumps and compressors are running at high temperatures," University of Houston engineering professor Michael Economides explained, "it can create a lot of damage."
“如果泵和压缩机在高温下运行，”休斯顿大学工程学迈克尔伊科诺米博士解释说，“它会导致许多的损坏”
Consultant David Hackett noted that other problems could befall Japan's refineries, too. "Salt water will play havoc with instrumentation needed to run a refinery," he indicated.
顾问大卫哈克特指出，其 他问题也可能降临日本炼油厂。 他表示，“盐水将给维系炼油厂运行的仪器带来大的破坏”
For the time being, finding survivors and cleaning up the worst of the damage will be the Japanese people's top priorities. But the country's oil companies may have to gird themselves for expensive corrosion repairs in the months to come.
就目前而言，寻找幸存者和清理的严重的损害将是日本人民的首要任务。但未来几个月该国的石油公司自己可能必须准备昂贵腐蚀维修费用。