Abstract: Yele dam is a rockfill dam with an asphaltic concrete core. The maximum dam height is 124.5 m

and the geological conditions of its foundation are complex. The dam area with an epicentral distance of about 258 km was shocked strongly during Wenchuan Earthquake

and the monitoring station on the dam obtained records of the main earthquake. The 3D FEM nonlinear dynamic analysis was adopted to analyze the seismic response of the dam .And the recorded accelerogram on the bedrock was used as the input earthquake motion

by which the peak acceleration was 11.968 gal and the duration was 124.4 s. The analysis results were in good agreement with the actual seismic records

which were different from the common rockfill dam. The seismic response of the dam increased gradually from the left bank to the right bank

and the response in the longitudinal direction was comparatively large. The peculiar features of the dam’s seismic response were closely related to the special geological condition that the foundation of the dam was unsymmetrical seriously in the both bank.