Ten months after the February earthquakes that killed 181 people and cost insurers and re-insurers billions, Christchurch has experienced two more strong shakes.
While no deaths or serious injuries were immediately reported, the quakes will put the restoration of the city back months and bring with it added cost to the economy and insurers.
New Zealand has been having a tough time recently with earthquakes and floods, the expenses of which are expected to fall on the insurance sector.
The effects of the recent natural disasters will especially be felt by Insurance Australia Group (AIG), Australia’s leading insurer, who last week joined the NZ insurance game by buying AMI, NZ’s biggest insurer.
It was a pretty tough first week in New Zealand for AIG. While the terms of the acquisition deal said they are not liable to claims relating to the February quakes, there were two natural disasters in their first seven days which they will have to account for.
The day after the acquisition heavy rain resulted in flooding and mudslides causing damage to homes. One week later, before an accurate estimate of the cost of the floods could be given, the two fresh quakes have added insult to injury.
New Zealand lies on a geologically unstable area in the South Pacific that is part of the so-called Ring of Fire, and is very susceptible to earthquakes. Seismologists have warned that the region could expect to be rattled by more aftershocks.
