Storm hits New Zealand quake zone

Rain and strong winds battered central New Zealand on Thursday, threatening further damage just days after a powerful earthquake killed two people and devastated parts of the country's South Island with huge landslides.

More than 1,000 tourists and residents have been evacuated from the small seaside town of Kaikoura by a fleet of helicopters and a New Zealand naval vessel since the 7.8 magnitude quake struck early on Monday.

The town was completely cut off by landslides covering the coastal road and rail corridor.

Reuters news agency cited Sarah Stuart-Black, director of the Ministry of Civil Defence Emergency Management, who reportedly said further helicopter evacuations from Kaikoura on Thursday had been disrupted due to the bad weather.

"We are really concerned about the changing weather situation," she said. "It could mean that there's an increased risk of further landslides, obviously surface flooding, so we want people to be safe."

An inland road to Kaikoura which was briefly reopened to emergency vehicles, was closed due to more landslides, officials said.

Warships from Australia, Canada and the United States, in the country for the Royal New Zealand Navy’s 75th anniversary, had arrived in Kaikoura to assist with the recovery.

Most of the tourists evacuated to Christchurch, the South Island's largest city about 150km south of Kaikoura, are said to have continued their journeys but around 130 people were supposedly being housed temporarily in Canterbury University's student halls.