Workers in a central Wellington office tower were given just two hours to evacuate on Thursday after the floors were found to be riddled with cracks.
Some of the gaps in the 13-storey building were eight milimetres long.
The building's foundation, built on solid rock, was not considered earthquake-prone prior to the discovery.
Now, the Wellington City Council is investigating if other buildings in the capital's CBD could be an earthquake risk.
Mike Mendonca, the Chief Resilience Officer for the Wellington City Council, says the council must now determine if the discovery is a one-off or if other buildings may be affected.
"At this stage, we have no reason to believe it's anything but a one-off," he said.
The revelation of the building's cracks raises questions about other 1,200 commercial buildings located in the city.
"We don't want any hysteria but people are right - if they've got concerns - to raise this with their building owner," Mendonca said.
Peter Smith, the president of the Society for Earthquake Engineering, says the building's safety issue going undetected despite testing is concerning.
"It does suggest maybe we do need to go a step further," he said.
The building is set to undergo a full repair, leaving hundreds of workers looking for new premises.
SHARE ME