This paper presents the use of pseudodynamic method to compute the rotational displacements of gravity retaining walls under passive condition when subjected to seismic loads. The concept of Newmark sliding block method for computing the rotational displacements under seismic condition and the limit equilibrium analysis have been combined in this paper to evaluate the performance of a gravity retaining walls under seismic conditions. One of the main features of the paper is the adoption of a new procedure to evaluate seismic passive earth pressure considering composite curved rupture surface (which is the combination of arc of a logarithmic spiral and straight line) and the dynamic nature of earthquake loading, which is useful to predict rotational displacements accurately. It also determines the threshold seismic acceleration coefficients for rotation using Newmark's sliding block method. It is shown that the assumption of planar failure mechanism for rough soil-wall interfaces significantly overestimates the threshold seismic accelerations for rotation and underestimates the rotational displacements. © 2010 ASCE.