The city of Catania, located on the eastern zone of Sicily, and in particular the coastal industrial area of the city is prone to high seismic risk. The seismic geotechnical hazard microzonation is now being studied for this area. In situ and laboratory investigations of sandy inshore soil were carried out in order to determine the soil profile and the geotechnical characteristics for the site under consideration, with special attention to the variation of shear modulus and damping with depth. Geotechnical borings, laboratory tests were carried out on undisturbed samples in the static field (Odometer tests; Direct shear tests) and in the dynamic field: Resonant Column tests. SPT (Standard Penetration Tests), CPT (Cone Penetration Tests) and dynamic in situ tests have been performed. Among them Down Hole (D-H) tests and Seismic Dilatometer Marchetti Tests (SDMT). The aim of the in-situ tests was mainly to evaluate the soil profile of shear waves velocity (Vs). The available data enabled one to compare the shear waves velocity profile obtained from SPT and CPT by empirical correlations with the Vs measurements by Down Hole tests and Seismic Dilatometer Marchetti Tests. A comparison between the in situ small shear strain and laboratory shear strain, evaluated by different tests, have been also performed. The Seismic Dilatometer Marchetti Tests were performed up to a depth of 23 meters. The results show a very detailed and repeatable shear waves profile. The shear waves profiles obtained by SDMT compare well with other in situ and particularly with laboratory tests. Synthetic seismograms, available for the city of Catania, have been used for performing site response analysis in terms of time history and response spectra, using a non-linear model for the soil behaviour. Finally the influence of site response on the evaluation of the liquefaction hazard has been performed.