Seismic Earth Pressures on Retaining Structures and Basement Walls In the present state of knowledge, the recommended method of obtaining seismic soil forces is that using equivalent-static analysis. Only for exceptional structures would dynamic analyses using finite elements seem warranted. In the equivalent-static method, a horizontal earthquake force equal to the weight of the soil wedge multiplied by a seismic coefficient is assumed to act at the centre of gravity of the soil mass. This earthquake force is additional to the static forces on the wall. In general, the total soil pressure on a wall during an earthquake equals the sum of three possible components: (1) static pressure due to gravity loads; (2) dynamic pressure due to the earthquake; (3) pressure due to the wall being displaced into the backfill by an external force, e.g. by the horizontal sway of a bridge deck at a monolithic abutment