Interaction of building and ground during an earthquake

A point of much interest to engineers is the interaction of a building and the ground an earthquake. There are several facets of this problem that have a bearing the stresses produced in a building during an earthquake. First, there is the question the influence of the building on recorded ground motion. The majority of accelerometers for recording strong ground motion are in the basements of and hence record the motion of the base of the building. The question thus, How much does this recorded motion differ from that which would have been at the site had there been no building? If there should be a marked difference the motion recorded within a building and that recorded directly on surface of the ground, there would be a possibility of designing a building so as minimize the base motion it would receive during an earthquake.