While the codifying works or the earthquake resistant design codes for buildings and bridges have been carried out progressively, such works for tank structures are still at the beginning steps. In case of the collapse of tank structures under seismic actions, substantially severe damages are expected due to the spillage of tank contents in addition to the direct economic losses of tanks and contents. Therefore not only the analysis and verification methods for the dynamic behavior of tank structures but also the measures of minimizing the damage propagation should be included in the codes for tank structures. In this paper the design concepts and principles, the analysis and verification methods as well as the measures against the damage propagation are set forth, which are mandatory for the preparation of the earthquake resistant design codes for cylindrical liquid-storage steel tanks.