China's recent devastating earthquake is ringing alarm bells with experts New Zealand.
Despite China being thousands of kilometres away, experts warn the same devastation could easily strike much closer to home.
Wellington emergency planners say damage to the capital would be even worse than originally thought if a similar earthquake struck.
On any normal weekday, the capital's CBD is filled with 200,000 people, with thousands crammed into 700 multi-storey towers.
"There's a lot of glass and if you look down the street, there's a lot of glass in those buildings, and the glass will just be blown out and many people will be injured or even killed from that glass coming down," says Rian Van Schalkwyk, Wellington Regional Emergency Management.
Prior to the China quake, the Wellington Regional Council expected 20% of city buildings would collapse in a quake similar to the 7.9 shockwave occurred.
Now they estimate it could be as much as 50% because many are of similar construction.
In suburbs like Newtown, those who survive the tremor will face the second threat of fire.
"There won't be any fire-fighting that can be done here, so the fire will just blaze on and it will burn everything down here, there's no way of containing it," says Van Schalkwyk.
The council says under a scenario drawn up for a 7.6 richter scale quake, up to 1500 people could die, over 10,000 could be seriously injured, and many more homeless.
If a tsunami hits, the death toll could triple.
In earthquake-conscious Japan, it took a week to restore power in the city of Kobe after the 1995 quake, and major roads were disabled for over a year.
So what can Wellingtonians do to prepare?
It's suggested that people should have a survival kit containing canned food, medication, torches, a radio, and most importantly lots of water.
Experts warn it's been over 480 years since Wellington suffered a really big quake, and another could strike at any moment.
