Based on the case histories of earthquake performance of earth dam collected from Taiwan and abroad, a preliminary review on the seismic performance of earth dam in Taiwan and the reliability of the seismic safety assessment methodology adopted was made. The effects of 921 Chi-chi earthquake on earth dams show that well-constructed earth dam can resist strong shaking with a(subscript max) as high as 0.6g without severe damage. The methodology of seismic safety assessment adopted can estimate the dynamic response and the final settlement of dambody reasonably well.