Otago and Southland say they are expecting increased demand on their health services for a prolonged period.
The new Southern District Health Board south of the Waitaki River says it has taken 100 people into its hospitals and residential aged care facilities since the quake on Tuesday.
Incident controller Tina Gilbertson says they expect to take more elderly people, and to do some of the elective surgery that would have been done in Christchurch.
As well, there's greater pressure on health services in the south from people moving out of Christchurch.
