Earthquake Tabletop Exercise for Banks
This exercise is part of our catalog of tabletop exercises for banks.
Scenario Overview
Participants serve as the management team for a fictional community bank headquarters when an earthquake strikes the region, shaking the facility and disrupting normal operations. Power is lost, employees are injured, and the building must initially shelter occupants in place while leadership assesses the situation and stabilizes immediate safety concerns.
As conditions evolve, the bank must work through medical issues, employee accountability, missing personnel, and the operational implications of an eventual evacuation. At the same time, deadlines remain, customers are affected, and the organization must begin thinking about how it will continue operating with the facility closed.
This exercise challenges bank leadership teams to respond to a sudden regional disaster while balancing employee safety, communications, and the early stages of operational recovery.
Why This Scenario Matters for Banks
Earthquakes and similar natural disasters can damage facilities, disrupt utilities, injure employees, and interrupt customer access with little or no warning. Banks must be prepared to make immediate safety decisions while also planning for continuity of operations in an environment where the surrounding community may be experiencing the same disruption.
This exercise helps bank leadership teams evaluate how they would respond when a regional disaster affects the facility, threatens employee safety, and creates pressure to restore essential services despite physical damage and operational uncertainty.
Exercise Objectives
- Evaluate leadership decision-making during a sudden regional natural disaster.
- Discuss shelter-in-place versus evacuation decision making.
- Review employee accountability, injury response, and medical support needs.
- Assess internal leadership coordination and communications during a developing emergency.
- Examine how the bank would manage customer impact and service disruption.
- Identify priorities for early operational recovery following facility closure.
Typical Participants
- Executive leadership
- Operations management
- Facilities or branch leadership
- Human resources
- Security or safety personnel
- Communications or public affairs staff
- Business continuity or crisis management team members
Exercise Format
Conduct-It-Yourself Tabletop Exercises are structured, discussion-based simulations designed to help organizations test their response to disruptive events without the time and cost of a fully facilitated exercise. Participants are placed in the middle of a realistic scenario as it unfolds and must work through decisions, priorities, and consequences as a leadership team.
Each downloadable exercise package includes everything needed to conduct the session internally, including facilitator instructions, exercise overview materials, participant forms, a detailed scenario script, and a ready-to-run PowerPoint presentation that guides the scenario and discussion. The materials are designed so organizations can conduct the exercise as delivered or customize the storyline and supporting materials to reflect their own facilities, operations, and testing objectives.
Most exercises are designed to be conducted in approximately 2 to 4 hours. A typical agenda includes an exercise overview and scenario briefing, the facilitated disaster simulation discussion, group review and preparation for debriefing, and a structured post-exercise discussion to capture lessons learned and improvement opportunities.
Exercise Focus
- Emergency Response
- Shelter-in-Place
- Evacuation
Related Tabletop Exercise Scenarios
Organizations exploring this scenario may also find these exercises useful:
- Fraud & Sabotage Tabletop Exercise for Banks
- Cyber Crime Tabletop Exercise for Banks
- Pandemic Tabletop Exercise for Banks
- Shelter-in-Place Tabletop Exercise for Banks
- Gas Main Explosion Tabletop Exercise for Banks
- Tornado Tabletop Exercise for Banks
- Train Wreck Tabletop Exercise for Banks
Many organizations choose to run their exercises with an experienced facilitator to guide discussion, introduce evolving scenario developments, and capture improvement opportunities.
If you would prefer a professionally facilitated tabletop exercise for your bank, learn more about our consulting services.
Purchase & Download
This exercise is delivered as a downloadable package that includes facilitator instructions, scenario materials, and structured discussion prompts to guide the exercise.
