The confined masonry popularity is attributed by the informal availability of its material, which are masonry, cement, aggregate, and reinforcing steel. In addition, its constructability did not require intensive labors, since most of common construction worker already familiar to its practices. Different with reinforced concrete masonry-infilled, in confined masonry, the reinforced concrete column and beam act as the masonry stiffener, and built following the completion of masonry bricks are stacked. Typically, the dimension of reinforced concrete members is the same as the width of brick masonry, offering an easier installation of form-work and concrete pouring. Due to its minimum dimension, the reinforced concrete members might contribute relatively small stiffness and act together with masonry wall to resist the lateral load and improve its stability. Although the confined masonry system is claimed to have a good performance during an earthquake, and it is reportedly that there are ongoing initiatives to promote confined masonry system in some region, there is evidence where the damage of confined masonry due to earthquake can be minimum or extensively lead to catastrophic, as reported in 6.5 Mw Pidie Jaya earthquake in 2016 (located in Aceh province, Indonesia). Confined masonry is a traditional structural system where its standard practices can be found in many guidelines and building codes around the world. In Indonesia, several publication and technical guidelines has been made to reflect the good practices in adopting the confined masonry as structural system in residential housing. However, the current practices are mainly determined arbitrarily on the basis of worker knowledge by their past experience. The lacks of labor workmanship and literacy in accordance with the guidelines or standards of how to develop a good detailing of reinforcing bar, maintaining quality control of concrete mixture, and the limitation of tie-column spacing are the main issue on why is that the shaking of Pidie Jaya earthquake can be quite disastrous to several houses that using confined masonry system. This study aims to describe the typical construction of confined masonry in Aceh. In order to quantify its performance due to earthquake shaking, analytical study based on Nonlinear Time History Analysis (NLTHA) will be employed. The findings of this study are in hope to be beneficial to promote the good practices of confined masonry as structural system which area feasible as earthquake-resistant housing in intense seismic region.