Evidence indicates that the vertical component of ground motion is more 

significant than previously thought, especially for near fault events.  However, many  design codes do not reflect the importance of the vertical component of ground  motion. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to determine what effects the vertical  component of ground motion has on a structure by way of comparison. Specifically, structural response due to the lateral components of ground acceleration is compared to structural response due to all three components of ground acceleration.