Pseudo-static analysis is still the most-used method to assess the stability of geotechnical systems that are exposed to earthquake forces. However, this method does not provide any information about the deformations and permanent displacements induced by seismic activity. Moreover, it is questionable to use this approach when geotechnical systems are affected by frequent and rare seismic events. Incidentally, the peak ground acceleration has increased from 0.2-0.3 g in the seventies to the current value of 0.6-0.8 g. Therefore, a shift from the pseudo-static approach to performance-based analysis is needed.

Over the past five years considerable progress has been made in Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering Design (EGED). The most recent advances are presented in this book in 6 parts.

The evaluation of the site amplification is covered in Part I of the book. In Part II the evaluation of the soil foundation stability against natural slope failure and liquefaction is treated. In the following 3 Parts of the book the EGED for different geotechnical systems is presented as follows: the design of levees and dams including natural slopes in Part III; the design of foundations and soil structure interaction analysis in Part IV; underground structures in Part V. Finally in Part VI, new topics like the design of reinforced earth retaining walls and landfills are covered.

The emergent ?eld of Intelligent Distributed Computing brings together two wellestablishedareasofComputerScience:DistributedComputingandC- putational Intelligence. Theoretical foundations and practical applications of Intelligent Distributed Computing set the premises for the new generation of intelligent distributed information systems. Intelligent Distributed Computing - IDC Symposium Series was started as an initiative of research groups from: (i) Systems Research Institute, P- ish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland and (ii) Software Engineering Department of the University of Craiova, Craiova, Romania. IDC aims at bringing together researchers and practitioners involved in all aspects of - telligent Distributed Computing. IDC is interested in works that are relevant for both Distributed Computing and Computational Intelligence, with sci- ti?c contribution in at least one of these two areas. IDC'2010 was the fourth event in the series and was hosted by IEEE Morocco Section in Tangier, - rocco duringSeptember16-18,2010. IDC'2010wascollocatedwith:(i)NATO summer schoolon"SoftwareAgents, Agent Systems andtheir Applications"; nd (ii) 2 International Workshop on Multi-Agent Systems Technology and - mantics, MASTS'2010. The material published in this book is divided into three main parts: (i) 1 invited contribution; (ii) 28 contributions of IDC'2010 participants; and (iii) 4 contributions of MASTS'2010 participants. The response to IDC'2010 call for paper was generous. We received 53 submissions from 20 countries (we counted the country of each coauthor for each submitted paper). Each submission was carefully reviewed by at least 3 members of the IDC'2010 Program Committee.

The emergent ?eld of Intelligent Distributed Computing brings together two wellestablishedareasofComputerScience:DistributedComputingandC- putational Intelligence. Theoretical foundations and practical applications of Intelligent Distributed Computing set the premises for the new generation of intelligent distributed information systems. Intelligent Distributed Computing - IDC Symposium Series was started as an initiative of research groups from: (i) Systems Research Institute, P- ish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland and (ii) Software Engineering Department of the University of Craiova, Craiova, Romania. IDC aims at bringing together researchers and practitioners involved in all aspects of - telligent Distributed Computing. IDC is interested in works that are relevant for both Distributed Computing and Computational Intelligence, with sci- ti?c contribution in at least one of these two areas. IDC'2010 was the fourth event in the series and was hosted by IEEE Morocco Section in Tangier, - rocco duringSeptember16-18,2010. IDC'2010wascollocatedwith:(i)NATO summer schoolon"SoftwareAgents, Agent Systems andtheir Applications"; nd (ii) 2 International Workshop on Multi-Agent Systems Technology and - mantics, MASTS'2010. The material published in this book is divided into three main parts: (i) 1 invited contribution; (ii) 28 contributions of IDC'2010 participants; and (iii) 4 contributions of MASTS'2010 participants. The response to IDC'2010 call for paper was generous. We received 53 submissions from 20 countries (we counted the country of each coauthor for each submitted paper). Each submission was carefully reviewed by at least 3 members of the IDC'2010 Program Committee.

The purpose of the special issue is essentially related to a characterization of specific modelling aimed at an evaluation of territory damage susceptibility, ranging from the observed intensity distribution of historical earthquakes to the determination of the site amplification factors and the urban and territorial seismic vulnerability.
This issue is addressed to researchers dealing with seismic studies as the result of an interactive process as part of macroseismic approaches and an a-priori determination of the elements if territory involved in the seismic risk evaluation.