نبذه عن الكتاب: I was honoured and privileged to work with Professor Nicholas Ambraseys as his assistant (i.e. associate after the completion of my PhD in 1994) on a number of research projects supported by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council of the United Kingdom and by the EPOCH program of the Community of European Countries at Imperial College in London (UK) during the period 1991–1997. The simplified approach used in our research is directly applicable to routine engineering practice. My initial involvement with earthquake engineering was a starting point for further work concerning soil dynamics and ground vibration related issues while working on a number of projects worldwide for Mott MacDonald Ltd. Dr E.T.R. Dean of Caribbean Geotechnical Design Limited (Trinidad) and Soil Models Limited (UK) reviewed several of my papers and was of great help with his detailed and precise comments for the improvement of initial versions of the papers. He kindly reviewed the initial version of this volume and made a significant contribution towards the improvement of the clarity and readability of the text. Several of my former colleagues influenced my professional carrier and hence this volume. Professor Milan Maksimovic persuaded me to switch profession from concrete structures to geotechnics right after my graduation. He pioneered studies of soil mechanics paid by Energoprojekt Co. at Imperial College in the U.K. The MSc soil mechanics study in 1984/85 enabled me to obtain the position of a research assistant later. Professor Petar Anagnosti (former principal geotechnical engineer of Energoprojekt Co. and former vice president of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering) and Mr Aleksandar Bozovic (former technical director of Energoprojekt Co. and former chairman of the committee on seismic aspects of dam design of the International Commission of Large Dams) encouraged me to apply for the position of a research assistant at Imperial College. The editor of European Earthquake Engineering and Ingegneria Sismica journals Professor Duilio Benedetti accepted kindly for publication 20 of my papers related to geotechnical earthquake engineering in the period 1995 to end of 2010. Numerous publications of my papers encourage me to work more in the field of geotechnical earthquake engineering and related topics such as ground vibration. Dr. Massimo Tognetti from Patron Editore provided publisher’s consent