Aftershock classed as new event

A large aftershock which rattled Canterbury this morning has been classed as a new event for insurance purposes. Photo / David Fisher

The Earthquake Commission (EQC) is classifying a large aftershock which rattled Canterbury this morning as a new event for insurance purposes.

The earthquake, measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale, struck near Rolleston, 20km southwest of Christchurch at a depth of 15km shortly after 9am, GNS Science reported.

The Canterbury Quake Live website reported the aftershock was the sixth largest since September 4's magnitude-7.1 quake.

EQC said they would be classifying the aftershock as a new event for insurance purposes and the deadline for claims would be September 6 this year.

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) spokeswoman Catherine Delore told NZPA no significant damage had been reported after the quake.

"...there hasn't been anything significant [reported] as far as we are concerned," Ms Delore told NZPA.

"We have a number of indicator buildings in the central city that we check after a sizeable aftershock and the engineers have been out having a look this morning and there isn't anything substantial or additional in terms of damage."

There would be have been some additional debris that fell down from buildings and some widening of cracks, but there had not been anything of significant concern, she said.

The Warehouse in Rolleston closed for a few hours after stock fell off shelves during the jolt and New World Rolleston also closed immediately after the tremor while staff cleaned fallen stock.

Warehouse stockroom worker Jo Edmond told The Press that store was a mess and she was "a little bit nervous" after the quake.

Police had not received any reports of damage so far but some officers reported having items knocked off shelves in their homes, a police southern communications spokesman said.

More than 2000 people reported feeling the earthquake on GeoNet's website.

One person in Templeton reported the quake as "heavily damaging", one in Rolleston reported the quake as "damaging", and 59 people reported the quake as "slightly damaging".

Meanwhile EQC chief executive Ian Simpson said it was ahead of where it expected to be in terms of full assessments of properties damaged from February 6.3 magnitude earthquake.

EQC had completed nearly 19,000 full assessments, which represented good progress, Mr Simpson said.

He said assessing damage was complex task and would take some time.

"We at EQC fully understand people in Christchurch want their claims resolved quickly.

"However EQC must ensure payments are correct and there is a rigorous process in place," he said.

Mr Simpson also warned people to be aware of possible scams.

"We are aware of people receiving phone calls from people claiming to be from EQC and offering money in return for their claim number.

"Under no circumstances should people give their claim number over the phone in situations such as this," he said.

So far there had been 10 earthquake events for insurance purposes.

- NZPA