AbstractThe 1994 Northridge earthquake confirmed the fact that it is now possible to design tall masonry buildings that have excellent and predictable earthquake performance. In general, masonry buildings performed well during the Northridge earthquake, and when construction practice was good the structural performance of masonry buildings was excellent. However, since most masonry buildings are stiff, low‐rise structures, the amount of non‐structural damage was significant. This is because the high floor accelerations that occur in low‐rise buildings during earthquakes usually results in increased damage to non‐structural components. Tall masonry buildings are more flexible and respond to earthquake shaking with longer periods of vibration than low‐rise buildings. This result is lower floor accelerations and consequently less non‐structural damage. In addition, tall masonry walls can be designed to respond in flexural limit states that are inherently more ductile and predictable than the behavior of short, squat walls. This means that the structural performance of tall masonry buildings in future earthquakes will be better than that observed in low‐rise buildings during the 1994 Northridge earthquake. It is thus clear that tall masonry buildings will provide an improvement to the proven earthquake response of masonry structures. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.