A petition has been launched to try and get extra compensation for families of victims who died in the Christchurch earthquake.

Hana Fisherova has written to MPs urging the Government to help "alleviate the serious financial, physical, and mental health consequences" of the families still grieving from the February 22, 2011 natural disaster.

Fisherova wrotes that for the families of those who lost loved ones in the CTV  collapse, ACC compensation of $70 per week for a widow or widower and $30 per week for each child is "insufficient", Fisherova says. Some families were helped with a $10,000 donation from the Red Cross.

"I believe it is morally unacceptable that eight years after the deaths of their loved ones, the families of victims have not been offered adequate financial compensation by the state to help ease emotional pain and financial hardship, let alone provide life-long solutions following faults of rescue or other state authorities," Fisherova has written in a detailed seven-page to MPs.

"Unless legal changes are made, this system will continue to negatively impact other families when future disasters occur."

Fisherova says she was stunned to hear of the compensation offered to quake families.

Many now-solo parents are having to work weekends and nights to try and make ends meet, she says.

She claimed it was a national tragedy that quake victims are not being more looked after by the Government – especially post-quake inquiries criticised aspects of the search and rescue efforts, and found serious flaws in the design of the six-storey CTV Building.

"New Zealanders should be more aware of how life after the tragedy has unfolded for the families of those who died," Fisherova said.

"In order to survive financially, safeguard their health and their children's futures, the victims' families deserve further compensation. Some of them need it urgently."

The petition was posted on the New Zealand Parliament website on Monday. It closes on March 1.

A lengthy and complex police probe into the CTV Building collapse concluded in 2017 that no criminal charges would be laid despite "significant" design deficiencies.