Strong Aftershocks Hit New Zealand Following Strong Quake

Strong Aftershocks Hit New Zealand Following Strong Quake
A powerful aftershock shook New Zealand's South Island Monday, just hours after being hit by a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
John Kirby, a spokesman for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the top American diplomat offered New Zealand "whatever U.S. assistance might be required."
New Zealand officials have confirmed two people died after the powerful earthquake hit 90 kilometers from Christchurch, the biggest city on New Zealand's South Island. The quake caused damage to buildings more than 200 kilometers away in the capital, Wellington.
Thousands of residents in the coastal area of New Zealand fled their homes for higher ground after tsunami warning sirens were activated in South Island coastal towns.
Some waves were up to two meters and officials described the tsunami as an "event of life-threatening or national significance."
A 6.3 quake in Christchurch in 2011 killed 185 people and caused widespread damage. 

sirens: a device for making a loud warning noise



Trump Vows to be 'Very Restrained' on Twitter
President-elect Donald Trump says he will continue to use Twitter when he takes office, but that he will be "very restrained" while in the White House.
"I'm going to do very restrained, if I use it at all, I'm going to be very restrained," Trump said in an interview to be aired Sunday night on CBS' 60 Minutes. "It's a modern form of communication. There should be nothing we should be ashamed of. It's where it's at."
And yet, while he waits to move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Trump devoted several tweets against his media nemesis, the New York Times.
"Wow, the @nytimes is losing thousands of subscribers because of their very poor and highly inaccurate coverage of the 'Trump phenomena'," the real estate mogul wrote in one tweet early Sunday.
"The @nytimes sent a letter to their subscribers apologizing for their BAD coverage of me. I wonder if it will change - doubt it?" he wrote in a separate tweet to his nearly 15 million Twitter followers.
The tweets referred to a letter the paper sent to its readers and subscribers stating it would "reflect" on its election coverage and "rededicate ourselves to... report America and the world honestly" and to "hold power to account."
Among his jumble of tweets on Sunday, Trump also wrote a series of posts thanking Republican lawmakers(国和党议员） -- most of whom had criticized his candidacy during the election -- for calling to congratulate him.

air (verb):`to broadcast something or be broadcast on radio or television

devote sth to sth/sb: to use a space, area, time, etc. for a particular purpose 

nemesis:`Someone's nemesis is a person or thing that is very difficult for them to defeat.

mogul:an important person who is very rich or powerful

jumble:an untidy and confused mixture of things, feelings, or ideas