ABSTRACT
Concrete dams that are built in areas of potential hazard of a strong earthquake, should be carefully analysed by taking into consideration the complex seismic influences. Until the mid-sixties, all dams were analysed in accordance with the pseudostatic method, with the insertion of the inertial forces from the concrete mass and the mass of water, as has been described in Chapter 4. Even though greatly simplified, this method has been deemed sufficient, to which a contribution has also been made by the fact that there had not been recorded any case of a failure of a concrete dam owing to an earthquake. That fact has also contributed to the opinion that concrete dams, above all arch dams and gravity dams, possess a high degree of resistance to seismic forces.
