An analytical upper bound plasticity solution is presented for the calculation of the seismic bearing capacity of footings placed at the crest or near the crest of clay slopes. The effect of seismic loading is taken into account through vertical and horizontal pseudo-static body forces acting on the soil and on the footing. Results are presented for horizontal ground surface and for footings on or near slopes in terms of normalized vertical failure loads and normalized horizontal – vertical interaction diagrams. Based on these results, simple modifications to existing bearing capacity equations are proposed which take account of the effect of soil inertia. Finally, the influence of problem geometry and soil parameters on seismic bearing capacity is discussed.