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Engineers are exploring whether some hillside streets in Christchurch will ever be safe from rock falls.
The Port Hills have become so dangerous that more than 400 houses still can't be lived in and some hillside streets could be abandoned.
The houses remain at risk from falling rocks shaken loose during the devastating February 22 earthquake.
A 20 tonne rock landed just metres from the home Robin Plummer built 41 years ago, after crashing down from the hills above.
"It was quite a shock actually, I heard my wife scream and say 'oh my God you better come and take a look at this'," said Plummer.
"It was quite horrific...the noise it made when it came down."
David Bell from Canterbury University Geological Sciences said in the February quake "there was a very high vertical acceleration in excess of the force of gravity, so it's gone up, out, and then come down the slopes".
Hundreds of boulders were dislodged all around the Port Hills causing widespread damage, although in places the road acted as a safety net.
"It does give a bench so it does provide an area for rocks to settle on," said Peter McDonald from Christchurch City Council.
The council has been blasting and clearing in the area for two months.
"What they're doing here is removing the bluff...there's certainly a few cracks in there and some large unstable rockface," McDonald said.
Teams of abseilers are tackling the more difficult spots by hand, trying to make them at least as safe as before the earthquakes.
But Bell said that's about the best they can do and there's always going to be a risk.
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