The main objective in seismic instrumentation of structures is to facilitate response studies that lead to improved understanding of the dynamic behavior and the potential for damage to structures under seismic loading. The purpose of this paper is: (1) to review the status of the programs for strong-motion instrumentation of structures in the United States and discuss various procedures and instrumentation schemes designed to best acquire response data from buildings and (2) to discuss preliminary results derived from recorded response data obtained from a well-instrumented structure during the recent Whittier Narrows earthquake of October 1, 1987 (M3 = 5.6).