If I have a pre-fractured column of stuff, what is the best performing way to destroy a chunk of it in the middle and have the top part collapse, etc.?

Basically I want to create a real-time sort of sim that pops off an arbitrary user defined chunk (so no keyframing) and have the rest of the stuff respond appropriately.

I am sure there are different ways to do this, but I was wondering what would be the best way for performance.

Thanks,
-Craig