The ANZ Bank branch at Queensgate Shopping Centre in Lower Hutt has closed.

Fifty businesses in Lower Hutt's Queensgate Shopping Centre will this week be delivered the bad news that their workplace is earthquake-prone.

ANZ bank has already upped sticks and left the mall after seeing a new engineer's report into its quake resilience. The ASB branch announced on Thursday it would leave the premises next week.

About 180 businesses in the mall are this week getting letters from its manager, Stride Property, informing them of the report's findings.

SUPPLIED ANZ said its Queensgate branch closed after it received a new engineer's report.

Of those, 50 are getting the most-worrying news that the buildings they are in have less then 34 per cent the seismic strength of what is required for a new building.

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Demolition of Queensgate's cinema and part of the adjoining covered carpark began in 2016 after structural damage was found following the 7.8 magnitude Kaikōura earthquake, which was felt strongly across the Wellington region in November that year.

MONIQUE FORD/STUFF The Event Cinema complex and a 300-space car park were demolished at Queensgate Shopping Centre in Lower Hutt after the structures were deemed unsafe following the November 2016 quake. (File photo)

The period since the Kaikōura earthquake has been a tough time for Queensgate, with the centre being forced to close for repairs as well as partial demolition, which saw some retailers withdraw.

Philip Littlewood, from Stride Property, said on Thursday that three of the 10 buildings that make up the mall were found to be below the threshhold of 34 per cent of new building standards, meaning they were considered quake-prone.

The news was contained in a draft engineer's report, received about a month ago, which was now going through the peer review process, he said.

Littlewood said shop owners were being told before the peer review was even done as it had become clear what it was going to show and he wanted to front-foot the issue.

"We are not hiding anything here."

All shop owners, including an estimated 50 in the affected buildings, were being informed on Thursday and Friday. There are more than 180 shops in the entire mall.

The quake prone areas were near the Angus Inn, adjoining a section of High St, and in the mall's southeast corner.

Most businesses would be able to stay in the mall during strengthening work, which would hopefully be largely carried out off-site or at night.

Eventually, the area would be up to 67 percent of new building standards or more, Littlewood said.

The work will cost a "few million" dollars, he said.

An ANZ spokesman confirmed the bank's move, which happened earlier this week.

The mall did not meet the bank's own seismic standards, which were higher than the Government's quake-prone threshold.

ASB issued a notice on Thursday it would close its Queensgate branch at 5pm on Monday as a result of the seismic inspection.

It plans to resume business at a nearby site and staff will move to work at nearby branches in the meantime.

Hutt South MP Chris Bishop said on Thursday that he would be meeting with mall management about the latest seismic strength issues.

A lot of people had questioned the mall's safety after the Kaikōura earthquake, he said.