Some 181 people were killed when a 6.3 magnitude quake hit the centre of Christchurch in New Zealand on 22 February.
The earthquake left thousands homeless and was the country's worst natural disaster in 80 years.
Ten months on one BBC News website reader describes how her life has been inextricably altered by the catastrophe.
Carolyn Sewell, Woodend, New Zealand
Months after the huge quake people are still busy gathering their lives together. Resilience is high but trauma is widespread.
We have not been allowed to return to our neighbourhood, which is now coated in layers of sludge. Our house is located in the red-zone. An area of land which has been deemed too damaged to build on or repair.
Our home, now condemned and uninhabitable, will be demolished soon. Many of the houses in Christchurch bear the hallmarks of the earthquake - cracked walls, broken windows, unstable foundations and worse.
Families hardest hit by the catastrophe have fled the area. We moved 30 kilometres (19 miles) away.
Already worn down by the psychological effects of the disaster, my family faces other, more immediate challenges. Thousands of people were displaced and left homeless.
We lost our home. The insurers have not raced to help us and we are battling for compensation.
The impact on my family has been immense. We had to endure months without a toilet. We can't afford to return home to England, having invested almost ten years here so we have been forced to find temporary rented accommodation.
It's not ideal. In a month we hope to build a new home on a site called Pegasus Town where the land has been made very safe. We are drawing up plans at the moment.
My daughter's school has not been reopened and she's taking her final exams this week. Their high school building was declared unsafe. An alternative site was eventually found.
Students from her college now share a campus with another high school, operating in two shifts. She goes to school in the afternoon and finishes late into the evening. She's coped remarkably well with the disruption.
My son is especially vulnerable. He's spoken of his fear about further tremors and of missing friends.
The flurry of media interest in our plight has tapered off. The international media has moved on. We haven't been able to move on quite yet. Christchurch has been decimated.
Amid the chaos of the quake which killed some 181 people, miraculously we survived. We are still in shock and our grief and sense of loss and guilt is intense. Each time we hear a loud noise or feel a jolt my husband and I tense up. I'm receiving counselling.
People have lost loved ones, their homes, their businesses and their jobs.
Our community has lost important landmarks, buildings, sports facilities and our centre of worship - the cathedral.
People are struggling to come to terms with life after the quakes. Tourism has been badly affected. Life in our community will never be the same again.
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