The All Black No 10 said he was lucky to emerge largely unscathed from the disaster that hit New Zealand's second biggest city on February 22, killing more than 180 people.
There was "a bit of damage" to his home, including the loss of a few bottles of wine that smashed on his kitchen floor as the ground shook, but nothing like the kind of devastation that ravaged many of his countrymen and women, weeks before a much larger quake and tsunami struck Japan.
Carter said the whole episode had left him feeling "quite useless." He is keen now, though, to represent Christchurch's grieving community by doing what he does best - bring smiles to the faces of Crusaders fans by performing on the rugby pitch.
With the Crusaders' stadium badly damaged, Carter's team is being forced to play its home games outside the city. It moved its first two to Nelson's small Trafalgar Park but has travelled to the other side of the world for its next.
Monday's game against South African side the Sharks will be at Twickenham, the home of English rugby, in a bid to boost the franchise's finances and raise money for victims of the earthquake. It will be the first Super match to be played outside the Sanzar countries - South Africa, New Zealand and Australia - and 26,000 tickets have already been sold, England's Rugby Football Union said.
"There have been some tough times with the earthquake in Christchurch so it's good to come over here and hopefully generate some money for people who are going through it," Carter said.
"Obviously with what's happening in the world at the moment ... I guess you kind of realise how lucky you are. Sport is a good release, to go out there and play footy and give something back to the community."
Carter was in the Crusaders' changing room after training when the earthquake struck at lunchtime.
"It was a pretty fierce shake. I managed to get outside with a couple of teammates but I didn't really know the extent of it until I jumped in my car, driving home," Carter said. "That's when I really understood that this one was so much different, with all the aftershocks.
"People were running out of their home, people were crying. Just water and liquefaction everywhere on the roads. A normal five, 10-minute drive back home took 45 minutes with all the traffic lights out."
Among the dead was a member of the Crusaders board, Philip McDonald. A friend of Carter's fiancee also died.
"Compared to some of the damage people got, the loss of lives, I count myself very lucky," he said. "I dodged a bullet really. You really feel for those people."
In a further setback to the community in Christchurch, the city was stripped last week of the seven matches it was down to host at the Rugby World Cup this year after AMI Stadium was left severely damaged.
"In the back of my mind, I was hoping it would be all right to have the games here, but obviously not," Carter said. "It's another blow to the people of Christchurch, who are rugby fanatics down there. It's really sad."
Motivated by the hardships being endured by Cantabrians, the Crusaders, Super rugby's most successful side with seven titles, are also determined to try to become the first team to win the title without playing a match at their home ground.
"We want to put a few smiles back on people's faces back home so it's a real motivation for the Crusaders to now be successful, get a great win (against the Sharks) and achieve something that's not been done before," said Carter. "That's a challenge."
Five pounds ($NZ11) from each ticket sold for Monday's match will go to the Red Cross earthquake appeal.
