With the rapid development of urban rail transit in China, a number of large underground structures have been built and have drawn growing concern regarding the adequacy of their earthquake resistance. Approaching large underground structures from the engineering perspective, in this paper, we investigate the seismic characteristics of large underground structures with respect to their design in response to high-level earthquake activity. First, we established three-dimensional dynamic models using the finite element program MIDAS/GTS. Using the time history analysis method, we obtained the deformation and internal forces responses of a large underground structure. We analyzed the relative displacements and drift angles of the floors of this structure and compared the mechanical properties of the main structural components under earthquake and non-earthquake conditions. Our research results show that, during the design phase, the seismic performance of large underground urban rail transit structures should be analyzed. We recommend that designers undertake three-dimensional dynamic time history analyses to more fully understand future seismic performance. Under earthquake loads, the internal forces at some parts of the top plates, base plates, and side walls are greater than those in static conditions. The openings of the main structure of large underground spaces are inherently weak, so appropriate reinforcement measures should be considered during the design process.