Abstract: A new method for optimal distribution of electromagnetic inertial mass dampers (EIMDs) based on the genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed in this paper, to reduce the amplitudes of vibration responses of an eccentric high-rise building structure with EIMDs subjected to the earthquake wave. According to the mechanical mechanism of the EIMD, the dynamic equation of motion of the eccentric structural system with EIMDs is derived and some parameters of the structure are determined correspondingly. Moreover, the optimal quantities and the installation location of the EIMDs are determined by using the proposed GA with the feasible fitness function. Finally, a feasible semi-active control strategy is adopted for the eccentric high-rise building structure with EIMDs. A full-size eccentric high-rise building structure with 24 stories is used as an example to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Simulation results show that the control performance of the proposed optimal strategy is superior to the one of the stochastic distribution strategy.