Christchurch's aftershocks continue

Monday's earthquake caused what was left of the Lyttelton Union Parish Church which was built in 1864 to smash its self to bits, and the shakes keep coming. Photo / Greg Bowker

Large aftershocks continued to rattle a nervous Christchurch today as the city and its residents looked to recover from two large tremors on Monday.

Scientists have said Monday's 6.3 quake has increased the risk of another quake of up to 6.9 magnitude some time within the next 12 months to about 30 per cent and residents were given further reminders of this as they were woken by shakes of 5.0 and 4.2 in magnitude - both about 5km deep 20km southeast of the city - around 6.30am.

Smaller quakes around magnitude 3.0 continued throughout the morning before a 4.6 aftershock struck at 1.03pm, and was followed by tremors measuring 4.1 and 4.2 at in the next hour. All quakes were centred in an area southeast of the city and at depths of between 5km and 20km.

Lines company Orion said it had managed to restore power to most of the city today outside the central business district's four avenues.

Company spokesman Rob Jamieson said fewer than 150 customers outside the CBD would be without power tonight.

Last night 15 per cent of households were without water and Christchurch City Council water and waste manager Mark Christison said it would be another 36 hours before the damage to the sewage system was fully assessed.

After the February 22 quake it was estimated it would take six months to fix the system completely, and that situation could be repeated, he said.

However, it was hoped people had kept their chemical toilets issued after the February quake and the council had 6000 chemical toilets stored.

The Earthquake Commission has classified Monday's quakes as a new event for insurance purposes with a closing date for claims of September 13.

Army personnel are continuing 24-hour duty at the five cordon points set up around the red zone.

It was expected that the Territorial Forces throughout the country would share the manning of the cordon for the next six months.

Police had been conducting reassurance patrols in the suburbs since the February quake and 30 Army personnel joined the Monday night patrol following the large aftershock.

"Local residents have told us that our physical presence provided them with much needed comfort, particularly when they were without power.

"We'll continue to offer our support until Christchurch is well and truly back on its feet," said Lieutenant Colonel Mike Duncan.

Responding to mounting calls for the Government to reveal the fate of Christchurch's quake-ravaged suburbs Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said the demands were overly simplistic.

Mr Brownlee has said the Government would not release information on which areas could be rebuilt and which needed to be abandoned until decisions were made on what happens next.

He said today any decisions made now would have an impact on future insurance premiums.

"Some of the calls for a more simplistic approach simply indicates a lack of appreciation for the complexity of what we're dealing with," he told Radio New Zealand.

"We know that premiums are going to go up in New Zealand, but how far they go up and in fact whether or not they're available will depend on how well we make our decisions moving forward in this."

Mr Brownlee said the criteria for declaring land either safe or unsafe must be very robust, and he would not back down on that.

He did not accept people were in limbo.

"I've made it as clear as possible that there are some things that are blindingly obvious about future occupation of some land in Christchurch," he said.

Finance Minister Bill English today questioned the credibility of an estimate of up to $6 billion in the insurance bill for the Christchurch earthquakes on Monday.

US-based insurance adviser Eqecat has estimated Monday's 6.3-magnitude shake was likely to add US$3b to US$5b ($3.7b to $6.1b) in insured losses to the region.

The figure is on top of the $15b to $20b costs already estimated for the September and fatal February quakes.

Mr English said he had seen no basis for "a large number like that".

"These aren't insurance assessments - these are an offshore consultant having a stab at what it might be from the pictures on TV, so I don't think we should give it too much credibility," he said.

"The engineers are having a look now whether there's any new damage, but it does look as if most of the damage has occurred in places where there was already damage."

- NZPA