Abstract. At present, the calculation of active earth pressure behind retaining walls is mainly based on the hypothesis that the fracture surface of rolling earth behind retaining walls is straight-running through wall heels. However, most experiments have proven that this hypothesis is false. In this study, active earth pressure behind retaining walls under seismic loading was discussed from the perspective of stress deflection. Stress on soil layer behind the vertical retaining wall was analyzed by quasi-static method. Then, the expression of seismic angle of rupture was proposed by referring to the balance of horizontal forces and changes with wall height. On this basis, the calculation formulas of active earth pressure, seismic active earth force, total moment at the wall and the point of application of active thrust from the base of wall were acquired by solving this balance equation. Calculated results were compared with test data and results of other methods. The rationality of the proposed method was verified. Thus, the proposed method is applicable to multi-layered filling behind the retaining wall.