This article takes circumstances of post-quake Christchurch as an analogue for Anthropocene emergency. I argue that Christchurch events are more than a reminder of the Earth's geologic volatility; for the Anthropocene-as-disaster, it is a prompt to contemplate what it is to dwell on unstable ground. Urban locations-towns, cities, mega-cities-are all rendered vulnerable on the surface of an unruly planet, offering no absolute refuge from planetary fluctuations. Such unsettling is deeply felt, physically and psychologically, resulting in homelessness both literal and figurative. Ensuing analysis offers insight into potential strategies for unsettled planetary dwelling to come.

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The irony of the Anthropocene-an idea grounded in earth sciences-is that it acts to unground some of the foundational ideas about the world. It asks us to reevaluate and rethink the human-nature binary, to inhabit a world less hospitable and malleable than we dared to believe. I explore this notion of groundlessness by returning to a personally traumatic event that literally swept me off my feet-crossing a river. I argue that the experience of such corporeal vulnerability can provide fertile ground for reorienting our own perception. Delving into such experiences may be used to provoke and expand thinking with a view to grappling with the implications of living within conditions of an Anthropocenic world.

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