New Zealand was hit by a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake just after midnight local time this morning, causing the death of at least two people and damaging homes and roads.

The quake struck near the small town of Hanmer Springs, about 100km from Christchurch, which was devastated by earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. The shaking was felt strongly in Wellington at the bottom of the North Island.

Earthquake Commission (EQC) CEO Ian Simpson says senior managers have met today and will monitor the situation as it unfolds.

“It can take some time for the picture regarding claims to emerge as people come to terms with what’s happened and had a chance to take stock of what’s happened to their properties,” Mr Simpson said.

Mark Godfrey, MD of New Zealand’s largest loss adjusters Godfreys, told insuranceNEWS.com.au the northern South Island coastal town of Kaikoura is likely to be one of the hardest-hit urban areas, but the quake was centred on a region with low population numbers.

“From what we have seen so far, there has been widespread but not necessarily severe infrastructure damage,” he said.

Roads and rail lines have been cut by landslides and ground fractures, and some population centres have been isolated.

“It’s too early to say anything about damage to specific building types, such as residences, commercial buildings or heritage buildings,” Mr Godfrey said.

Wineries in the Marlborough region are likely to be among the affected businesses.

Damage levels could be slightly more severe than either the 2013 Seddon earthquake, in the same region, or the 2014 quake in the North Island town of Eketahuna.

The Insurance Council of New Zealand has advised affected homeowners to contact their insurer as well as the EQC, while commercial property owners have been told to contact their brokers.

Lloyd’s says it is closely monitoring the situation, with General Representative in Australia Chris Mackinnon saying the market “will work with all relevant stakeholders involved in this disaster, to pay all claims as swiftly as possible”.

“Our thoughts are with the victims, their friends and families and the communities and people of New Zealand,” he said.

The largest quake was followed by other strong quakes near Kaikoura and Seddon. There were hundreds of smaller aftershocks, which are expected to continue rattling the region for some time.

A tsunami alert had people in low-lying areas around Wellington moving to higher ground to wait for several hours until the alert was cancelled.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key postponed a planned trip to Argentina as the impact was assessed.

“The situation is still unfolding and we don’t yet know the full extent of the damage,” he said.