ABSTRACT
Following the observed foundation failures in Mexico City during the 1985 Michoacan earthquake, extensive studies have been carried out on the seismic bearing capacity of shallow foundations. These studies have thrown new light on the main factors affecting the seismic behavior of shallow foundations at failure and new analytical formulae have emerged to compute the seismic bearing capacity under pseudo-static conditions. These formulae account for the load inclination and eccentricity as well as for the inertia forces developed within the soil medium; they are valid for cohesive and dry cohesionless materials.
