The magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Wellington in the early hours of Sunday. Photo: GeoNet
A large Wellington apartment building was evacuated on Sunday and the area cordoned off due to concerns about structural damage following an earthquake.
The magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Wellington in the early hours of Sunday morning.
On Sunday evening, the Victoria Lane Apartments in Victoria Street were cordoned off and residences evacuated "as a safety precaution", police said.
That was over "concerns there may be structural damage".
Cordons were in place at the intersections of Victoria/Dixon Street, Victoria/Ghuznee Street, and Dixon/Taranaki Street.
"Residents and members of the public will not be permitted to enter the area until assessment of the building is complete and the area deemed safe to return to," a police spokesperson said.
Just after midnight, the spokesperson said the building had been assessed by Fire and Emergency New Zealand as safe to re-enter.
"Residents are able to return and cordons in the area will be removed."
The 16-storey building has 123 apartments, as well as retail and commercial offices on the lower four floors.
A resident of a neighbouring apartment building earlier told RNZ the building was evacuated because it had been swaying since the morning's earthquake.
A Fire and Emergency staff member at the cordon told him that engineers were being sent in, he said.
The man noted that the vendors "charged through the nose" for the Victoria Lane Apartments because they were supposed to be so safe.
However another resident Ilia Kopylov said he said he hadn't felt any shaking in the building throughout the day, and had no safety concerns about the building.
Several other people who lived in the building told RNZ they did not feel any shaking either.
A spokesperson for property developer Willis Bond said the evacuation was a false alarm triggered by one resident.
Completed in March 2023, the apartments were marketed as setting "a new standard in apartment seismic safety as Wellington's first base-isolated apartment development".