Abstract: To obtain the most applicable intensity measure of a near-fault ground motion for evaluating the aseismic performance of a pier, three pier models with different natural periods were established and a suit of real ground motion records was selected to establish a record base. By using incremental dynamic analysis and statistic inference method, the applicability of an inelastic response-spectrum displacement as the intensity measure of a near-fault ground motion was observed when evaluating the aseismic performance of a pier. The study shows that the inelastic response-spectrum displacement is a more applicable intensity measure than a response-spectrum acceleration and can be used to perform the probabilistic demand analysis of a pier structure. The results has important academic significance and realistic value.