It has long been recognized that the intensity of shaking in the epicentral region in a large earthquake is far from uniform. The common engineering approach has been to regard local site conditions as having paramount influence in the total response prediction problem. One particular site model, that of one- dimensional wavetransmission, has been widely applied with varying degrees of success. Other theoretical site models have been proposed, and these tend to re-emphasize the very complex nature of the site
response problem. Furthermore, recent research has indicated that local site effects may in fact be overshadowed by differences in source mechanism. This paper provides a review of some recent literature on the site response problem. The author claims no original contribution to the material presented; rather the paper has been prepared to contrast the common belief among engineers that the problems of site response have been largely solved.