In this paper, horizontal seismic responses of a structure built on a sunken mat foundation were compared with those built on a solid embedded mat foundation to investigate the effect of a sunken mat foundation on the horizontal response of a structure. Seismic analyses of a structure laid on the embedded mat foundation were performed by utilizing a pseudo-3D finite element software of P3DASS. Three bedrock earthquake records downloaded from the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center database were scaled to reproduce weak-moderate earthquakes. Weak, medium, and stiff soil layers were considered for the seismic analyses of the structure-foundation-soil system. Parametric studies were performed for foundation radius, foundation embedment depth, and shear wave velocity of a soil layer to investigate their effect on the seismic response spectrum. The study result showed that the design spectrum of a structure built on a sunken mat foundation was similar to that with a solid embedded mat foundation showing a slight difference due to almost the same seismic base motion beneath both embedded foundations.