Snowstorms in New Zealand last week cut power to thousands of homes and caused cancellations to flights in and out of Christchurch.

After the storms hit last Wednesday, South Island emergency services reported trees down and surface flooding.

Insurance Council of New Zealand CEO Chris Ryan told insuranceNEWS.com.au that although he does not yet have loss figures from the storms, he expects it to be “more disruptive than expensive”.

“We expect the claims to be modest,” he said. “Much of where the snow fell was in rural regions with a low population.”

Christchurch also experienced a “violent shake” of 4.2 magnitude at 2.34 this morning NZ time. It was centred within 5km of the city and was 9km deep.

There have been no reports of significant damage.