Major faults in the Wellington Region move mainly sideways, with some up or down displacement as well. Scientists describe them as ‘oblique dextral strike-slip’ faults, which means that if you look across the fault, the ground on the far side will move to the right, as well as a bit up or down!

In New Zealand's biggest historic 'quake in 1855, The Wairarapa Fault moved about 15 metres sideways and about 6 metres vertically! As a result of this great earthquake, the whole Wellington region was severely shaken, uplifted and tilted to the west. In fact, the land and sea floor near the harbour rose up about 1 - 1.5 metres.

When the Wellington Fault next ruptures it is expected to cause about 4 – 6 m of dextral strike-slip, as well as a variable but lesser amount of vertical displacement – some areas will experience uplift, but others, like the Hutt Valley, may subside (sink) by about a metre.

Stout St may lift up thus causing buildings to seperate and create gaps between. Further more hubpages.com states that when the next earthquake which is well overdue will be probably over 7.0 magnitude depending on the depth and location, would be enough to move buildings apart thus creating the gaps which my micro parks would grow out of.

hubpages.com/hub/wellington-earthquake

Info from here.

Wellington is built on a faultline. You only have to fly into the city to experience the city’s earthquake history, as the airport is built on land upraised in the Haowhenua earthquake, which probably occurred in the 15th century. New Zealand’s largest ever recorded earthquake (magnitude 8.2) occurred on the Wairarapa Fault in 1855. The main threats to Wellington are from earthquakes on the Wellington Fault or the Wairarapa Fault, along with faults under Cook Strait which would likely cause a tsunami. Reclaimed areas such as the CBD, Miramar and Petone are at high risk from liquefaction, higher ground shaking intensity and tsunami, while areas with steep slopes risk landslides.

A large, shallow daytime earthquake of around magnitude 7.4 along the Wellington fault would probably result in around 500 deaths, 4,000 injuries, and perhaps 1,800 people trapped and over 100,000 buildings damaged. The return period is 1 in 700 years, and for a larger event (magnitude 8.2) on the Wairarapa Fault, 1 in 1,000 years. Yet, due to the multitude of faults, the return period for a very strong quake causing extreme ground shaking in Wellington is just 150 years.

From here.