The aim of his study is to investigate the inelastic behavior of Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings with sear wall when undergoing severe earthquakes. In this regard, the height-wise distribution of drift, hysteretic energy and damage index in RC buildings with shear wall subjected to strong ground motions were investigated. Three RC frames with shear wall, 8, 12, 15 story frames, in which lateral loading pattern was on the base of Iranian seismic code, were considered and all frames then were evaluated by performing nonlinear dynamic analyses under severe earthquakes. Consequences indicate that in severe earthquakes despite strength uniform allotment in the stories height, an intense concentration of these parameters was observed in one or two stories. This will definitely hinder the serviceability of the maximum capacity of buildings. © 2008 Asian Network for Scientific Information.