A state of emergency imposed on Canterbury following the magnitude 7.1 earthquake on 4 September has ended.
It has effectively been replaced by emergency legislation passed by Parliament on Tuesday night.
Civil Defence lifted the declaration in Christchurch, Waimakariri and Selwyn at midday on Thursday. It was previously extended twice.
There had been plans to lift the state of emergency on Wednesday. But it was extended because the mayors wanted to be sure the new legislation covered their concerns about removing some of the red tape around building consents.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker says that power will only be used where appropriate.
Civil Defence says a transition from response to recovery is already well under way and the public should not notice any change.
