Abstract: How to ensure the safety of structures and facilities across seismic faults and to mitigate losses due to fault dislocation are of a great significance in the development of resilient engineering systems. With the transfer of the construction of major and mega-projects to the deep ground, the deep sea and the central and western regions, the safety problem of civil engineering across faults has become increasingly prominent. This paper reviews the characteristics of faults and structural damage states related to the large earthquakes within recent years, and points out the necessity and urgency of carrying out destructive tests on crossing-fault structures and facilities, as well developing associated simulation programs. In addition, this study summarizes the state-of-the-art research progress on typical damaging mechanism of crossing-fault structures and facilities and discusses the limitations of simulating cross-fault damages by using currently available shaking tables. The objective of the study is to provide a reference and a guidance for the development of fault simulation device, and for the related researches on equipment manufacture, and for experimental design and planning.