Residents have cleared out of a central Wellington street while urgent work is carried out on a quake-damaged carpark lift which could come crashing down in an aftershock.
Wellington City Council closed off Luke's Lane, between Manners St and Taranaki St, after the 10-storey lift shaft became detached from the James Smiths parking building in Sunday's 6.5 magnitude earthquake.
The council has said it has no authority to force residents out of buildings on the street.
However, council earthquake resilience manager Neville Brown told Radio New Zealand the street was "vacant'' while engineers carried out remedial work on the lift shaft this afternoon.
"It's a difficult situation, and we've suggested to them that they vacate because if we get a further aftershock, and this lift well is not restrained, there is the potential for it to fall,'' he said.