Tennyson Street resident Dylan Moran speaks about the confusion over the safety of his apartment

A cordon on an inner-city street has been lifted after an apartment building in central Wellington was evacuated over fears it is unsafe.

The building at 25 Tennyson St was evacuated on Wednesday morning, as was the apartment building next door.

Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office (Wremo) confirmed on Wednesday night that the cordon on the street had been lifted, but residents were still unable to get back into No 25, which had suffered structural damage.

LAURA DOONEY/FAIRFAX NZ Part of central Wellington was cordoned off while an apartment building in Tennyson St was evacuated.

Police and the Fire Service cordoned off part of Tennyson St shortly after midday, while Search and Rescue teams cleared the multi-storey building, with about 28 separate individual titles.

READ MORE:

* Live: 7.5 New Zealand earthquake

* Quake-hit Wellington building holds up

* Floor pancaked at Stats NZ House

* Kaikoura: No way in, no way out - but help is at hand

No 23 was also cleared as a precaution, a Wremo spokesperson said. Residents were given the all-clear to go back on Wednesday night.

BONNIE BARR/SUPPLIED Police assist with the evacuation of a building in Tennyson St, in central Wellington.

The Fire Service said engineers called it to declare No 25 unsafe at 11.27am.

Fire Service assistant area commander Gareth Hughes said overall 23 apartments were evacuated, affecting 60 people. Residents on the scene said they were alerted by a fire alarm going off.

The damage was in a main structural element in the building, Hughes said. It was holding the the weight of the building, making it structurally unsafe.

"I think they've been aware that there's been damage to the building straight away, unfortunately ... Wellington's got a lot of buildings," Hughes said.

"Engineers have been going since straight after the earthquake doing inspections ... there's loads of teams working out there. It's just the nature of the beast, there's lots of buildings to inspect and it's taken a while to get there."

One resident said engineering reports had revealed the building was a risk, and it had been yellow-stickered until about a year earlier.

Other residents approached refused to comment, with one saying the body corporate had asked them not to talk to the media.

A man living in the neighbouring building said he'd seen an engineer on Tuesday come out of the apartment building, who told him he considered it a danger, and no-one should be in there.

Dylan Moran had not been home when his flat at 23 Tennyson St was evacuated, but said: "We've been told by Quinovic the building has been looked at and it's safe to return.

"As far as we know there's been no further assessment, just the the initial assessment."

Quinovic Vivian St principal Jenny Tamplin said she had been told the building had been evacuated and tenants were to stay with friends and family overnight, and Wellington City Council would assess the building, but she wasn't sure exactly what needed to be looked at.

"From Quinovic's point of view, we've been asked to tell tenants to evacuate."

An emergency assistance centre at 18 Jessie St would be open until at least 8pm on Wednesday for people affected by evacuations in the area.

Mayor Justin Lester said the council could take people in if they had nowhere else to go, but most people evacuated from their homes in the past few days had been staying with friends and family, or at backpackers or hotels.

"Worst-case scenario, we will be able to provide accommodation for people as well, as a last resort, through Wellington City Council."

Jan Moore, practice manager at Capital Care Health Clinic, said there were no reports of injuries. "Everyone has been evacuated but apparently a lot of of people had already moved,"

Those people left due to concerns after the 7.5 magnitude earthquake on Monday morning, she said.