Emergency work is being carried out to secure a lift shaft to a building in central Wellington in the wake of a strong earthquake and fears it would topple in an aftershock.
The Wellington City Council said on Friday the lift shaft in Lukes Lane had developed a lean since the 6.5-magnitude Cook Strait quake that shook central New Zealand last Sunday.
The lift shaft has been stabilised with steel braces. Photo: RNZ
The council said the 10-storey structure is a remnant of an unfinished building project from 20 years ago and is at risk of collapsing on nearby buildings in an aftershock, and could kill anyone in the street below.
On Thursday night the council closed Lukes Lane, which runs off Taranaki Street. People in four nearby buildings, which include businesses and apartments, have been evacuated and cordons set up to stop people walking through. A nearby street, Opera House Lane, was closed on Friday morning.
The lift shaft is attached to the James Smith carpark, which has been closed. The council's manager of earthquake resilience, Neville Brown, told Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint programme work to put steel brackets in place began on Friday afternoon and would continue on Saturday.
Mr Brown said the council needed to evacuate people. "If we get a further aftershock and this lift is not well restrained, there is the potential for it to fall. The buildings and apartments are indeed in what we describe as a fall zone, so I guess we're trying to be cautious and ensure people's safety."
Other work is going on in the city to assess car park buildings, as well as other buildings, he said.
The council says 611 buildings have been yellow-stickered as a result of Sunday's quake and would need to be demolished or brought up to the minimum quake standard by 2027.
Four other buildings remain empty, including the BNZ building on the waterfront and the carpark behind Reading Cinemas.
Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown defended the time it took to close down Lukes Lane, telling Radio New Zealand's Nine To Noon programme on Friday that the council acted appropriately in shutting the lane and carpark when it did.
"It's a private building but council, at our expense, is bracing that lift tower," she said.
Risk of big aftershock diminishing - GNS
GNS Science says the probability of a serious aftershock after Sunday's earthquake that shook Wellington and Marlborough is lessening, but there is still a risk.
Seismologist John Ristau said on Friday there have been more than 1400 aftershocks, but the probability of a magnitude 6 or larger quake is now 2% over the next 24 hours and 8% over the next seven days.
Mr Ristau said the probability of a magnitude 5 to 5.9 quake is 16% over the next 24 hours and 52% over the next seven days.
Meanwhile, the Wellington region was shaken by a 4.2 tremor on Friday morning. It hit at 11.01am and was centred off the Kapiti Coast, 40km north-west of Wellington, at a depth of 64km. It was widely felt in the capital.
John Ristau said that quake was unrelated to the swarm in Cook Strait.
