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The characteristics of the inelastic response of structures affected by hanging wall and forward directivity in the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake are investigated. Inelastic displacement ratios (IDRs) for ground motions impacted by these near-field effects are evaluated and comprehensively compared to far-field ground motions. In addition, the inelastic displacement responses to hanging wall and footwall ground motions are compared. It is concluded that the inelastic displacement response is significantly affected in the short period range by hanging wall and in the long period range by footwall, Although high peak ground acceleration was observed at hanging wall stations, the IDRs for structures on hanging wall sites are only Larger than footwall sites in the very long period range. Forward directivity effects result in larger IDRs for periods longer than about 0.5s. Adopting statistical relationships for IDRs established using far-field ground motions may lead to either overestimation or underestimation in the seismic evaluation of existing structures located in near-field regions, depending on their fundamental vibration periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]