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This paper presents an analytical framework for predicting three-dimensional (3D) seismic active earth pressures for soils governed by a nonlinear strength criterion. The kinematic limit analysis method that incorporates a pseudodynamic approach is used to carry out the analysis. A generalized tangential technique is adopted to realize transition of the nonlinear criterion into the commonly used linear form. A 3D failure mechanism of rigid rotation is employed. Because the use of the modified pseudodynamic approach leads to a variation of seismic forces along the depth, the work rate due to earthquake effects is calculated by using a horizontal layer–wise summation method. By virtue of the balance equation of work and energy, the thrust of active earth pressures is determined, and the final solutions are expressed as dimensionless active earth pressure coefficients. A comparison between the solutions obtained in this paper and those of the existing studies shows the effectiveness of the developed method. A parametric analysis is carried out to investigate the influences of several parameters. The findings of this work can help understand the service behavior of retaining structures subjected to seismic loadings, which could provide references for designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]