Insurers and brokers may be facing a busy return to work today after yet another earthquake event hit near the town of Kaikoura on Sunday – although there are currently no reports of major damage.

The South Island was hit with a “big” 5.4 magnitude earthquake, causing landslides, on Sunday at around 5:10pm. A report by the New Zealand Herald said the event struck near to Kaikoura and was felt as far away as Rotorua. It struck around 13km deep and, according to GeoNet, was felt by 1,260 people.

Thankfully, as of the time of writing, no casualties had been reported.

“Looks like that was a bit of a rattle. Hope everyone who felt that is doing OK,” tweeted the New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management, as reported by The Independent.

Hotel manager Ross James told the New Zealand Herald that the event felt like a “big one,” stating that it was “short and sharp.”

“There are people here from China who only just arrived but they took it extremely well - they said ‘We’ve got earthquakes in China as well’ so they’re all happy,” he said.

According to the New Zealand Herald, Fire and Emergency NZ had, as of Monday, received no reports of damage in the town or in the surrounding area.

Insurance Business will continue to monitor the fallout of the earthquake and bring you the latest news as soon as it is made available over the coming days, including how this will impact the planned reopening of SH1.


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