During the last eighty years of submerged tunnel construction in
the civil engineering field, the problem of aseismic design has been discussed. In this paper a new aseismic design criterion, seismic deformation analysis, is proposed based on wave propagation principles avoiding force method principles of design: so-called seismic coefficient method. Ground subsurface properties such as density, elastic moduli and thickness effect the natural period of the subground, and response dis- placements of the subsurface at specific sites are obtained by the input accelerations of the base rock and damping characteristics. Deformations and working stresses of the tunnel structural systems
are obtained by the tunnel being assumed as an embedded beam or rod supported elastically by the ground and sweeping over the system values of the wave length such as provide maximum stresses at each point of the tunnel structure. Interpretation of effects on the deformations and stresses caused by geological and geodetic variation of the site and boundary conditions of the structural systems is also discussed. An example of application to a proposed submerged tunnel across Tokyo Bay is briefly reported.