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iii Soft clays usually exist in many coastal areas and they reveal high compressibility and poor strength. There are various methods for improving in situ conditions of soft clays. Among these methods, stone columns are considered to be the most advantageous and cost-effective ground modification techniques. Stone columns are widely used to reduce the settlement of soft clays, accelerate the rate of consolidation by reducing the length of the drainage path and increase the load bearing capacity. Among the other ground modification techniques, stone column is simple to apply. Stone column application replaces the soft soil by a stronger material and mitigates the potential for cyclic mobility by accelerating the dissipation of excess pore pressure during earthquakes. The aim of this study was to investigate the performance of stone columns in soft compressible clay. For this reason, finite element analyses were carried out to evaluate settlement of soft cla