Quick Drill – Earthquake – American Red Cross Ready Rating Program

Quick Drill – Earthquake

This document will guide you through facilitating a response drill for earthquakes. It presents a disaster scenario, discussion topics, and steps for completing the documentation and conducting a debrief.

For a quick walkthrough or rapid scenario planning discussion (15-minute discussions over coffee or during a regularly scheduled meeting), focus on steps 1 through 3. To conduct a tabletop or functional exercise, complete all the tasks below. The preliminary set-up for a drill is outlined in the document titled “How to Conduct a Drill” in the Ready Rating Resource Centre.

Earthquake

Impacts can be regional and severe. Fires and floods are common after earthquake activity.

Additional sources of information for the scenario

U.S.: Earthquake Safety | Earthquake Preparedness | Red Cross

Canada: Earthquakes: Information & Facts – Canadian Red Cross

Resources you may wish to consider or use during the drill

Natural Resources Canada or U.S. Geological Society alerts, emergency action plan, earthquake response plan, emergency response team, safety, and fire wardens, local first responders, fire department, local news and radio stations, emergency medical and first aid kits.

Tasks

The facilitator provides introductions, presents drill objectives, and sets the ground rules. For more details, see ‘How to Conduct a Drill’.

The facilitator introduces the scenario. Provide time and location. Describe immediate impacts on people, operations, or services, as well as the availability and engagement of resources.

SAMPLE SCENARIO

At [insert time], a magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred. The shaking lasted over 2 minutes and could be felt across a 90-mile (145 km) radius. No warning was issued in advance of the earthquake. A damage assessment reveals that most of your windows are broken. Furnishings have fallen throughout the building and many passageways are blocked. Two individuals are injured by broken glass. The 911 emergency response line is overwhelmed and unable to provide an estimated time for medical services. Landline telephones are not operating. You have a radio in the building and can listen to news reports. Many local roads are damaged as a result of the quake.

Discuss available resources and immediate actions.

Consider the following:

What type of notification or alarms would be activated in this situation?
What actions need to be taken to ensure personnel safety?
What are the current and potential impacts on employees, assets, services, and critical business processes?
Do you need to communicate with employees, customers, or business partners? If so, what do you need to communicate? Who is responsible for drafting the communication? What method of communication will you use?
How will you address the needs of your customers?
What considerations do you need to make regarding the impact on individual employees and their families?
What immediate financial costs might be incurred and how do you plan to manage them?
How will you manage staffing?
How are you going to monitor the situation?
What actions do you need to take to continue business operations?
What actions do you need to take to recover processes that have been interrupted?

If you are conducting a functional exercise, some or all the response actions should be simulated.

Document key discussions, actions, and decision points.

Document the actions that should be taken, the required resources, and the individual(s) or group(s) responsible.
Responses should be as complete as possible.
Revisit and review the discussion points if the scenario involves additional ‘injects’.

These should be compared to what is in existing plans. Where necessary, after-action items should be assigned to revise plans.

Conduct a debrief. Discuss the following:

Did you meet the drill/exercise objectives?
What went well?
What challenges did you face?
How can you improve?

Are there any gaps, changes, and/or additions that need to be to your plan(s)? For any action items, ensure that you document responsibility and deadlines.

Document the drill/exercise and lessons learned. The following forms can be used for this documentation:

Drill/Exercise History Form
After-Action Report

For any action items, ensure that you document responsibility and deadlines.

#	Tasks
1	The facilitator provides introductions, presents drill objectives, and sets the ground rules. For more details, see ‘How to Conduct a Drill’.
2	The facilitator introduces the scenario. Provide time and location. Describe immediate impacts on people, operations, or services, as well as the availability and engagement of resources. SAMPLE SCENARIO At [insert time], a magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred. The shaking lasted over 2 minutes and could be felt across a 90-mile (145 km) radius. No warning was issued in advance of the earthquake. A damage assessment reveals that most of your windows are broken. Furnishings have fallen throughout the building and many passageways are blocked. Two individuals are injured by broken glass. The 911 emergency response line is overwhelmed and unable to provide an estimated time for medical services. Landline telephones are not operating. You have a radio in the building and can listen to news reports. Many local roads are damaged as a result of the quake.
3	Discuss available resources and immediate actions. Consider the following: What type of notification or alarms would be activated in this situation? What actions need to be taken to ensure personnel safety? What are the current and potential impacts on employees, assets, services, and critical business processes? Do you need to communicate with employees, customers, or business partners? If so, what do you need to communicate? Who is responsible for drafting the communication? What method of communication will you use? How will you address the needs of your customers? What considerations do you need to make regarding the impact on individual employees and their families? What immediate financial costs might be incurred and how do you plan to manage them? How will you manage staffing? How are you going to monitor the situation? What actions do you need to take to continue business operations? What actions do you need to take to recover processes that have been interrupted? If you are conducting a functional exercise, some or all the response actions should be simulated.
4	Document key discussions, actions, and decision points. Document the actions that should be taken, the required resources, and the individual(s) or group(s) responsible. Responses should be as complete as possible. Revisit and review the discussion points if the scenario involves additional ‘injects’. These should be compared to what is in existing plans. Where necessary, after-action items should be assigned to revise plans.
5	Conduct a debrief. Discuss the following: Did you meet the drill/exercise objectives? What went well? What challenges did you face? How can you improve? Are there any gaps, changes, and/or additions that need to be to your plan(s)? For any action items, ensure that you document responsibility and deadlines.
6	Document the drill/exercise and lessons learned. The following forms can be used for this documentation: Drill/Exercise History Form After-Action Report For any action items, ensure that you document responsibility and deadlines.

Quick Drill – Earthquake

Quick Drill – Earthquake

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