In smashing buildings to the ground, Rūaumoko also levelled people. Post-quake Greater Christchurch, with its cracked and rumpty roads, Portaloos on street corners, was munted—no place for high-heels or fancy airs. There was no playbook for how to respond to a disaster on this scale. What emerged was a strong sense of community, a down-to-earth openness about the shared experience of coming to terms with something unimagined, of life being very different, and grappling with a slew of practical changes every day—from how to get across town to how to cope with a broken sewerage system.