Four days after a deadly quake, living without power and water is taking a psychological toll on many Cantabrians, Leroy Ah Ben reports.
Cynthia Scott considers herself among the lucky ones, but her house has been wrecked by liquefaction: twenty centimetres of water and silt came up through the foundations. It has completely covered everything.
"You can't live here. There's no water, no power, no floor, just mud," Cynthia Scott told SBS.
"Once I saw the house I had just about ten minutes where I thought I don't know what to do, I've got nowhere to live, the roads are blocked, I've got no place to go, I don't have anything with me".
Her street in the Christchurch suburb of Shirley is one of the worst hit by liquefaction.
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Diggers have moved in to this street to help clear the roads of the thick layer of sand.
The movement of the earthquake causes the soil to act like liquid and it erupts from the ground and escapes through gaping hole.
For those who have live here all their lives - Christchurch will never be the same.
"It's terrifying, it really is. It's heartbreaking to think my children won't see what I saw and won't be able to do what I did".
Nearby Murray James and his partner Kelly bought this house four years ago. It was going to be their family home - a place where they could raise their two young children.
The September quake destroyed one wall of the house, Tuesday's one took care of the rest.
Murray says he's heartbroken.
"We had hoped to restore and revive her and bring her back to her former glory and live out our days here but I guess that's not going to happen".
His dream home lies in ruin - but he's determined to move on and rebuild.
