Refugees bound by memories of quake horror | Bay of Plenty News | Local News in Bay of Plenty

They were trapped in the dark, some blanketed in shattered plates, others trapped under crumpled store shelving. It was February 22, 2011.

A year on, about 30 Christchurch refugees who have made Tauranga home gathered in Welcome Bay to mark the first anniversary of "the big one" .

Baden Powell Hall filled with the murmur of people sharing their stories and the noise of children too young to grasp the concept of grief.

A woman with red ribbon in her hair sank her face into trembling hands while men discreetly wiped wet cheeks and noses. Their grief was not just for the 185 lives lost. These Cantabs were also grieving for their home town.

Some suffered panic attacks as they arrived but Graham Starr sat solo and stoic and simply said he missed Christchurch. The memory of February 22, 2011 is forever etched in his mind.

"I remember being in the kitchen and I was thrown to the floor. Plates were thrown all over me and breaking and I tried catching the dog because she was running everywhere."

Mr Starr was trapped. Eventually he escaped through a window with the dog and found his two girls and wife.

Sonya Skerten was inside Spotlight Sydenham when the shaking started. Seconds later it all went black. "I just started to scream 'get down, get down'."

Ms Skerten folded herself into a human shield protecting two of her children as buttons and hooks rained down from the shelves. "The whole back of my head was cut up. I couldn't get underneath [the shelves]."

Four hours later a text from fiance Dale Swainson made it through the overwhelmed phone network to say he was okay.

Yesterday they stood together near the back of a hall in the city they have made their home.