Principles and state-of-the-art practice of seismic design of modern building structures is studied in this paper. At present, the earthquake damage can be simply divided into two parts: upper vibration and bottom instability. According to the currently widely accepted classification of earthquake damage, the vibration of the upper structure can be considered through the structural design, while the instability of the bottom such as faults, landslides and ground subsidence, etc. It is very important to then ensure the safety of the seismic performance of super high-rise structures. In the context of the new era, the scale of super high-rise building projects and the complexity of the structural system are gradually increasing. Hence, this paper gives the novel suggestions and proposes the solutions, the details have been discussed.