Some 100,000 houses were damaged in the quake, with 500 buildings to be demolished New Zealand has delayed plans to lift no-go zones in quake-hit Christchurch after major aftershocks were felt.
Christchurch’s mayor had hoped to reopen the city centre following last weekend’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake but new tremors halted the plan.
“We’re erring on the side of caution,” Mayor Bob Parker told local media.
The city has been under a state of emergency since Saturday’s quake, the total cost of which is estimated at NZ$4bn (US$2.7bn; £1.8bn).
The Treasury’s figure is almost double initial estimates, after the government agreed to pay a subsidy to quake-hit businesses to allow them to continue to pay wages.
Some 100,000 houses were damaged, with 500 buildings to be demolished.
Exclusion zones enforced by the police and military were expected to be removed at 0500 on Friday (1700 Thursday GMT).
But Mayor Parker said they would remain in place following the tremors. More than 100 aftershocks have rocked the area since Saturday.
“We’ve lost nobody in this event and the controllers and everybody else working here want it to stay that way,” he told Radio New Zealand
Mr Parker said the no-go zones would be scaled back over the next few days.
“We’ve got to send a message that the majority of the city is open for business and people are in some ways getting back to their lives,” he said.
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