Seismic experience has shown that underground shaft structures are subjected to seismic threats and severe examples of damage have occurred. In order to obtain the seismic response of the shaft, the ‘beam-spring’ model was used to establish a system analysis model for the dynamic interaction between the large-diameter shaft and the soil based on the Pasternak foundation and the Timoshenko beam theory. On the basis of considering the normal earth pressure of site soil layer and shaft structure, the tangential shear force of site soil layer and shaft structure is further considered. The analytical solution of seismic response of large diameter shaft under horizontal earthquake was studied. The peak seismic response of the shaft along the depth direction is analyzed from the aspects of the ratio of the length to diameter of the shaft, the ratio of the inner and outer diameters, the ratio of the elastic modulus of the shaft to the site and the boundary conditions at the bottom of the shaft. The results show that the decrease of the ratio of the length to diameter of the shaft will lead to the increase of the peak response of the internal force of the shaft along the depth direction. The increase of the inner and outer diameter ratio of the shaft will reduce the peak internal force response of the shaft along the depth direction. With the increase of the ratio of the elastic modulus of the shaft to the site, the peak response of the internal force of the shaft along the depth direction will gradually increase. The displacement response of the shaft under the elastic soil foundation is larger than that of the rock-socketed foundation. The shear response under the rock-socketed foundation along the depth direction of the shaft is significantly larger than that of the elastic soil foundation, and the bending moment peak response of the rock-socketed shaft at the bottom position is larger.