At 4.35am on 4th September 2010 the city of Christchurch, New Zealand with a population of 400,000, felt the formidable 7.1 magnitude shudder of the earth.  It was the beginning of a year long nightmare, six major earthquakes above 6 magnitude, close to 10,000 tremors, 182 dead. Christchurch a modern, bustling city with an historic core was largely leveled. 8,900 residents leave the city, we learnt a new word -liquefaction, took a deep breath and while shudders continued began to recover.

Over this time we follow the journey of 10 Christchurch residents as they cope with the worst natural disaster in New Zealand’s history. They talk candidly of their struggles – three families living in the worse hit suburbs, business owners desperate to keep their doors open and the painful road to recovery of two seriously injured workers trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings. These compelling stories are supported by the immediacy of CCTV earthquake footage, and animations showing scientific explanations of how and why the ground moves.

A Shocking Reminder is the story of what happens to ordinary people when the ground beneath their feet can no longer be trusted.