Current research trends in seismic frequent regions aim at developing the appropriate performance – based design approach for high asphalt concrete core rockfill dams (ACCRDs). Under intense ground motions (GMs), the seismic performance of dams depends on seismological characteristics mainly containing the frequency, amplitude, and duration. Recently, the characteristic of frequency and amplitude of GMs which can trigger severe damages to the dams has been accepted and incorporated into the seismic design codes in most countries. As one of the key characteristics of earthquakes, the duration of strong GMs also should be fully understood in order to carry out more reasonable performance – based design approach of dams. This paper explores the effect of the duration of strong GMs, investing the seismic performance of high ACCRDs by employing integrated duration concept, which can reflect the duration of all components of GMs. The high ACCRD was built in the commercial software ABAQUS considering the dam-reservoir-foundation interaction systems. Additionally, the coupling multiple stripe analysis and maximum likelihood estimate method are used to generate seismic fragility curves for the dam according to two damage indicators. Findings from this study revealed that the longer duration GMs can give rise to higher probability of exceedance (POE) of the dam than shorter duration. It is recommended that in the work of the current seismic design and seismic performance evaluate, the effects of GM duration in addition to frequency and amplitude should be considered.