Earthquake Tabletop Exercise for Facility Management

This exercise is part of our catalog of tabletop exercises for facility management.

Scenario Overview

Participants are the Crisis Management Team for a fictional bio-tech company when an earthquake rocks the region and immediately disrupts normal operations. Power is lost, employees are injured, and the building must initially shelter occupants in place while leadership works to understand the situation and stabilize immediate safety concerns.

As conditions evolve, the team must address panicked employees, medical issues, and uncertainty about the condition of the facility. When evacuation becomes possible, there are missing people to account for, critical clinical trial deadlines are at risk, and the organization must begin planning for operations with the building now closed.

This exercise challenges facility management and crisis leadership teams to respond to a sudden regional disaster while balancing life safety, communications, operational continuity, and the early stages of recovery.

Why This Scenario Matters for Facility Management

Facility management teams are responsible for maintaining safe, functional environments for employees, visitors, vendors, and critical operations. A regional earthquake can create immediate life-safety concerns, disrupt utilities and building systems, and make it difficult to determine whether a facility can continue operating safely.

This exercise helps facility management leaders evaluate how they would respond when an earthquake affects a critical site, forces shelter-in-place or evacuation decisions, and creates pressure to coordinate emergency response while preparing for closure, recovery, and continuity of operations.

Exercise Objectives

• Evaluate leadership decision-making during a regional earthquake affecting a critical facility.
• Discuss shelter-in-place versus evacuation decisions for building occupants.
• Review occupant accountability, injury response, and medical support procedures.
• Assess communications with employees, responders, and stakeholders during a fast-moving emergency.
• Examine facility operations challenges created by power loss and building disruption.
• Identify priorities for early operational recovery after the facility can no longer function normally.

Typical Participants

• Executive leadership
• Facility management
• Operations leadership
• Environmental health and safety personnel
• Human resources
• 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 emergency planning 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
• Initial Operational Recovery

Related Tabletop Exercise Scenarios

Organizations exploring this scenario may also find these exercises useful:

• Multiple Disruptions Tabletop Exercise for Facility Management
• Train Wreck Tabletop Exercise for Facility Management
• Gas Main Explosion Tabletop Exercise for Facility Management
• Shelter-in-Place Tabletop Exercise for Facility Management

Purchase & Download

This exercise is delivered as a downloadable package that includes facilitator instructions, scenario materials, and structured discussion prompts to guide the exercise.