The seismic response of underground structures is mainly determined by the soil deformation induced by seismic wave propagation and soil-structure interaction. The ovalization of tunnel lining during the process of shear wave propagation reduced the effective bearing capacity of lining. The resulting change of shape of tunnel section generates circumferential strains in the tunnel lining, which can cause cracking and/or crushing of concrete and reduce the carrying capacity of the lining. Since the dimension of a typical lining cross-section was small, in comparison to the wavelength of the dominant ground motion, and the inertial effects in both the lining and the surrounding soil were relatively small, therefore, the response of the cross-section induced by seismic motions could be considered as a response to an imposed uniform strain field. Transversal behavior is usually studied by analyzing the response of the cross-section to an imposed uniform strain field by using the pseudo-static approach. In general, most pseudo-static approaches are developed based on the relative stiffness method, which can take soil-structure interaction into account. In this paper, the available closed-form solutions under no-slip interface conditions (no relative shear displacement), which are developed based on the relative stiffness methods, were reviewed, and then the seismic response of a circular tunnel was analyzed, both analytically and numerically, in order to investigate the seismic response of tunnels subjected only to shear waves. The research is of great interest for evaluating the reliability of analytical solutions as well as the reliability of numerical approaches.