The invention relates to a method and apparatus for identifying an asymmetric waveform in a strong earthquake record. The method comprises: carrying out base line initialization on acceleration data in an obtained strong earthquake record; classifying corrected acceleration data into a first array and a second array by using a base line as a benchmark; carrying out a preliminary symmetry analysis on the first array and the second array and determining whether a graph drawn by the acceleration data is a symmetrical waveform; and if so, carrying out a precise symmetry analysis on the first array and the second array and determining further whether the graph drawn by the acceleration data is a symmetrical waveform. According to the method and apparatus provided by the invention, advantages of two kinds of symmetric analysis methods are combined; and the identification efficiency can be guaranteed and the screening accuracy can be improved; abnormal data in a strong earthquake record can be rejected; and the earthquake analysis result reliability can be enhanced.