Many lifetimes of toil were made meaningless in a terrifying few seconds. On the other hand, there are many families in central Taiwan which had gone all their lives without a home of their own, yet, precisely because of the earthquake, they now own their first really proper home. For more people than we can know, life will never be the same as a result of the quake.
去年的九二一地震，震碎了上萬個家園，震毀了許多人一生的辛勞；然而，卻也因為九二一，有些一輩子沒有住過一間真正房屋的家庭，有了屬於自己的第一個白牆紅瓦的小小家園。