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Residents of the New Zealand city of Christchurch are set to mark the first anniversary of the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that killed 185 people.
Memorial services are to be held across the country - in Auckland, Waimakariri, Selwyn, Wanganui and Wellington.
The quake is considered the country's worst natural disaster in 80 years.
A special cemetery for victims of the quake - Avonhead Park Cemetery - was officially dedicated on Tuesday, with hundreds gathered for the unveiling.
Those in attendance included Prime Minister John Key, Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae and Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker.
Thousands of people are expected to attend a memorial service in the city on Wednesday.
The earthquake hit at 12:51 local time on 22 February 2011.
Six months before that, the region was also hit by a 7.1 magnitude quake, but that did not cause major destruction.
Christchurch has experienced at least 10,000 tremors since the September 2010 quake.
Major quakes also struck the city in June and December last year.
Rebuilding efforts
Ahead of the anniversary, Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker told the BBC that "the big task of rebuilding is just getting under way now".
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker: "I am amazed at the progress we have been able to make"
"It has been a massive job and continues to be so," he said of recovery efforts.
Immediately after the quake, it was believed that up to 10,000 homes would have to be demolished and 100,000 would need repairs.
"In terms of where we have got to so far, there are many thousands of residential homes that needed to be examined," Mr Parker said.
"New areas for residential growth opened up because we realised that some pieces of land were no longer suitable for people to live in. They were just unable to be strengthened in the appropriate way and we want to be the safest city in the world.
"So any decisions that we make have to be well-judged decisions around the safety of land and the safety of buildings."
The quake did not spare historic buildings like Christchurch Cathedral
Almost two-thirds of the deaths during the quake happened when the six-story Canterbury Television (CTV) building collapsed. Those killed included people of many different nationalities because there was a language school in the building.
An official report from the Department of Building and Housing released on 9 February stated that it did not meet requirements when it was built in 1986. The load-bearing columns were not sufficiently reinforced with steel, it said.
After the quake struck, it was thought that people would start leaving New Zealand's second-largest city.
According to Mr Parker, only 10,000 of the base population of 500,000 have actually left. He sees this as "the greatest vote of confidence".
The city is now recruiting thousands of skilled workers to fuel its NZ$30bn ($24.4bn) rebuilding effort.
22 Feb, 2012
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-asia-17109288
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