Wellington Council goes back on plan to recheck CBD buildings after jolts bigger than magnitude 5

Wellington City Council says they will not be held to an earlier plan to recheck buildings after a magnitude 5 or above tremor as there could be a number of that magnitude. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Will they or won't they?

After last month's earthquakes, Wellington City Council said all CBD buildings would be rechecked after a magnitude 5 or above tremor.

But today, the council's principal media adviser, Richard MacLean, said after this afternoon's 4.17pm 5.5-magnitude quake that struck the top half of the South Island they will not be held to that claim because there could be a number of earthquakes of this magnitude.

The quake, centred 10km southeast of Seddon at a depth of 12km, was felt as far away as Wellington and Christchurch.

"Maybe someone said it in the heat of the moment.

"We are trying to avoid people going out and doing unnecessary work. If we find cause for concern in the next few hours we will start sending our inspectors out."

Newshub reported on November 19 that acting Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee said that as multiple earthquakes above 5 and 6 on the Richter scale will cause cumulative damage, changing the result of initial assessments, it would be a reasonable expectation that buildings would be rechecked after each magnitude 5 and above quake.

He was speaking at the time in defence of the Wellington City Council's quake response, and after it confirmed it would recheck CBD buildings after an aftershock of magnitude-5 or larger, Fairfax reported on November 18.

MacLean said he was in the CBD when this afternoon's quake hit.

"We have been checking in on sites this afternoon that have been causing us concerns. So far there has been no signs of damage."

MacLean has been in contact with people who were working in high rises in the CBD when the quake happened. They have not reported any damage but were a bit shaken he said.

Wellington Regional Civil Defence Controller, Bruce Pepperell, posted on Facebook tonight: "Although this was a significant shake in and around Seddon, it did not have a considerable impact here in Wellington. In nerdy scientific terms, this aftershock only had a peak ground acceleration of 0.015g in Wellington (1.5% of gravity).

"Engineers are currently assessing the advice of GNS Science and will recheck the city indicator buildings if warranted."

Meanwhile, the demolition of the cinemas at Westfield Queensgate in Lower Hutt will begin tomorrow.

The cinemas were condemned following the 7.8 earthquake three weeks ago.

Weather permitting, demolition will begin at 7.30am in the morning and run through until 9pm in the evening.

Demolition crews expect they'll be working Monday to Saturday for two months to complete the job.

The cordon around the area remains in place and the New World, the conference area of the Angus Inn hotel and a number of shops in the mall will stay closed.

More than 80 shops and 590 car parks at Westfield Queensgate remain open.