Abstract: The rupture of soil layer on bedrock may be induced by earthquake fault dislocation of bedrock when earthquake occurs, and it will directly lead to destruction of engineering structures upon the fault, especially the underground structures. The study on this problem has been attracting more attention in recent years. Previous research results and progresses in the field have been analysed, and the rupture modes have been summarized. Some existing problems and research tendencies are analyzed. Some research results show that the fault type, fault location quantity and direction, the depth and physical properties of overlaying soil layer are the main factors affecting the rupture processing of soil layer overlaying on the dislocated bedrock, and also indicate that the reverse fault induced rupture grader of soil layers is the strongest, and the normal fault's rupture is moderate and the strike-slip fault's rupture is the weakest.