Claims from NZ’s earthquake-stricken Canterbury province have reached nearly 171,000 and continue to rise following more severe aftershocks.

Since Christchurch and the surrounding area were hit by a 7.1-magnitude quake on September 4, significant aftershocks have been felt on October 19, November 14, December 26 and January 20.

Earthquake Commission (EQC) CEO Ian Simpson says claims resulting from the most recent events seem to be relatively minor, mainly involving cracking of interior and exterior walls and exacerbation of existing damage.

So far 157,247 claims have been received for the September 4 earthquake, 2849 from the October 19 aftershock, 2016 from November 14 and 8871 from December 26.

Residents who still haven’t filed claims for the last three events have until February 14 for the November aftershock, 28 March for the December 26 event and until April 20 for the January aftershock.

The EQC says $615 million in claims has already been paid, 30,125 claims have been processed and a further 25,317 assessments have been completed. Another 25,805 have been initiated.