A numerical procedure for the preliminary estimation of the earthquake-induced settlement of concrete face rockfill dams is presented. The method is based on a simple constitutive model that accounts for the key features of the behavior of coarse grained materials that affect the response of CFRDs, namely pressure dependent elasticity and a peak friction angle dependent on both pressure and void ratio. The actual earthquake design record is replaced by a simple sinusoidal base acceleration having an equivalent effect on the dam.