An evacuation plan you can print and fill in
Four questions from the PHIVOLCS primer, then a blank page for the answers. Print it, write on it, and put it where the people who need it will see it.
By Hamza Rivera, updated
Short answer: PHIVOLCS's school drill primer gives four things to work out first: the open space nearest the building, whether it holds everyone at one square metre per person, a route checked for new hazards, and who counts heads. The page applies them to a home, school or barangay as a blank plan to print and fill in.
Written for the Philippines. Para sa bahay, paaralan o barangay.
What PHIVOLCS says to work out first
What the four steps look like from above
PHIVOLCS's own method drawn as a plan: the open space nearest the building, a buffer away from what falls, a route checked for new hazards, and an assembly area counted at one square metre a person. The four steps are under the drawing.
Source: PHIVOLCS, How to Conduct an Earthquake Drill in School: Primer for Teachers (printed October 2011 by DOST-PHIVOLCS). Read 23 September 2026. Linked from the PHIVOLCS Earthquake Preparedness page as a scanned two-page primer. Every phase and stage on this page was read from that scan on 23 September 2026.
Their primer is written for schools running an earthquake drill, and its planning stage sets out an evacuation method step by step. The four points below are theirs. Applying them to a house rather than a school is this page's doing, and the questions do not change.
- Pick the open space nearest the building PHIVOLCS says to use all available open spaces nearest the building, and to set a buffer zone from the building.
- Count whether it actually holds everyone PHIVOLCS works it out as length times width, at one square metre per student, counting the students in each building per session.
- Walk the route and look for a new hazard Check that the evacuation route does not take anyone past a new hazard on the way out. A route that was safe last year may now pass a water tank, a new wall, or scaffolding.
- Post it where people are, and name who counts heads PHIVOLCS posts the evacuation map in every classroom, assigns someone to hold the door open, assigns a marshall for each group, and tells the neighbourhood before a drill. The head count is one of the phases of the drill.
Source: PHIVOLCS, How to Conduct an Earthquake Drill in School: Primer for Teachers (printed October 2011 by DOST-PHIVOLCS). Read 23 September 2026. Linked from the PHIVOLCS Earthquake Preparedness page as a scanned two-page primer. Every phase and stage on this page was read from that scan on 23 September 2026.
The plan
Five groups, 20 lines. It fits on one sheet.
Evacuation plan
Household, school or barangay. Method from the PHIVOLCS primer for teachers.
Where you go
- Assembly point, the open space nearest the building
- Buffer distance from the building
- How many people it must hold
- Square metres available, at one per person
How you get there
- Main route out
- Second route, if the first is blocked
- Hazards on the route, checked on
- Who opens the door and holds it
Who does what
- Who counts heads at the assembly point
- Who fetches the children
- Who helps anyone who cannot walk out alone
- Who carries the go bag
- Who turns off the main switch and the LPG
Who you contact
- Meeting point if the house is unreachable
- Out-of-town contact everyone rings
- Barangay hotline
- Nearest evacuation centre
When you checked it
- Plan written on
- Walked through on
- Next review
staysafedaily.com, evacuation plan template. Method from PHIVOLCS, How to Conduct an Earthquake Drill in School: Primer for Teachers.
Source: PHIVOLCS, How to Conduct an Earthquake Drill in School: Primer for Teachers (printed October 2011 by DOST-PHIVOLCS). Read 23 September 2026. Linked from the PHIVOLCS Earthquake Preparedness page as a scanned two-page primer. Every phase and stage on this page was read from that scan on 23 September 2026.
A plan nobody has walked is a piece of paper
PHIVOLCS puts the drill last, after three stages of preparation, and the head count is one of its six phases rather than something that happens if there is time. PHIVOLCS says to conduct and take part in regular earthquake drills. Walk the route with everyone who lives or works there.
The drill, phase by phase What goes in the go bag The numbers for the last group The fire drill rules A blank evacuation map to draw on