Claims to the Earthquake Commission (EQC) for damage to homes following Saturday's earthquake are likely to cost close to the $2 billion mark, the original Treasury estimate for total damage.
The EQC deals only with claims from house owners, not from businesses, and it said today it had received 21,000 claims and expected that figure to climb to at least 100,000.
Its original estimate for the damage was between $1b and $2b, but it said today the cost was likely to be at the upper end of that range, based on the likely number and the nature of the claims.
The number of claims has overwhelmed the EQC, with many people unable to make contact because of overloading phone lines and insufficient numbers of call centre staff to receive claims.
"We are rapidly increasing numbers of lines and call centre staff and expect that the problem will ease over the next few days," commission chief executive Ian Simpson said.
Christchurch was rocked by three solid jolts late last night and early this morning, though the strength of the aftershocks that continued through today eased.
But Civil Defence advised people in the Christchurch, Waimakariri and Selwyn districts to be prepared for aftershocks for the next few weeks - there have been 300 since Saturday morning's 7.1 magnitude quake.
"No one can predict when these will occur," regional Civil Defence Emergency Management operations manager Brendan Winder said. "But we do know that they will get less frequent over coming days and weeks".
It had been hoped that schools would resume classes tomorrow, but the Ministry of Education put that back to Monday, because it said there were still serious health and safety issues. There were reports of further structural damage at some schools because of last night's quakes, so schools that had already been inspected would have to be reassessed, Education Minister Anne Tolley said.
Prime Minister John Key decided today to cancel his trip to France and Britain, where he had been due to meet the Queen. He had been due to fly out on Friday, but the trip was the source of some controversy because of the earthquake.
Mr Key said he had decided to stay as a move of solidarity with the people of Canterbury.
He spoke in Parliament this afternoon about the shock of the quake and then travelled to Christchurch for a meeting with the region's mayors and was touring welfare centres tonight.
The Government announced tonight a wage subsidy to help employees of small businesses that can't operate because of the quake get by financially.
The employees of businesses with fewer than 20 workers will get $350 gross a week, with an advance lump sum paid to employers, but firms holding insurance cover for loss of earnings will be expected to use this before accessing the wage subsidy.
A Government recovery package for Canterbury would be announced by the end of the week, Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said.
The Government has indicated that consent procedures will be fast-tracked to speed up the recovery.
"Day four has been another extraordinary day in this whole process," Mayor Bob Parker said.
Mr Parker met newly appointed Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Bronwnlee today and was pleased with the result.
"The bottom line was 'just ask and we'll get it for you'," Mr Parker said.
Orion chief executive Roger Sutton said power should be restored to all but 500 homes by the end of the day and that he was confident power would be fully restored to all properties by the end of the week.
Police Inspector John Price said a number of people who had remained in damaged homes since Saturday's quake were now making the "sound choice" to evacuate their homes.
"This also poses, for us, a risk to the properties as potentially being targeted for burglaries," he said.
"We just ask the public that if they are opting to move away from their houses just to make sure they are kept secure."
Demolition of buildings continued in the central city and in suburbs today, and there were fears for city centrepiece, Christ Church Cathedral, where cracks were found, prompting the renewal of a cordon around it.
Two historic buildings, the New Zealand Express Co Ltd and Cecil House in Manchester St, were condemned today.
Welfare centres in Christchurch had a wave of new arrivals early today after the overnight jolts.
At Linwood College's centre, the school hall was packed to capacity following the 5.4-magnitude tremor about 3.30am, Gert van de Vorstebosh, the centre's emergency service supervisor, told NZPA.
"There was a big influx after that shallow one at about 3.30am, taking us to 105 or so," he said.
"Some people have gone home today, but they may come back if they find their houses are still uninhabitable."
People staying at Burnside High School were shifted to other centres, after the building was damaged by the early jolts.
Canterbury farmers are to attend a meeting at Darfield High School to discuss a recovery process for the agriculture sector.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's latest estimates suggest there have been between 300 and 400 farms affected, with up to 150 severely affected.
Farmers have been urged to check storage silos in case rain has leaked in and started spoiling grain.
The Orion electricity network has told Federated Farmers that most rural high voltage power lines are up and running again, but the network remained extremely fragile.
Amid plenty of gloom, heavy metal rockers Metallica had some good news for their Canterbury fans.
The band said it would forge ahead with its two sold-out shows at the CBS Canterbury Arena on September 21 and 22.
NZPA