At mihmb-
This was a California Building Code requirement, 2007 CBC, Section 1806A.1, and the trigger was 12' not 15' and for a Cantilevered wall, not a basement wall.
I reviewed the current 2010 CBC, and it has similar wording but not the 12'. If you are on the CBC, take a look at section 1807A.2.3.
Basically, regardless of your code if it was my design and I was in a high seismic zone and designing a cantilevered retaining wall, I would do a secondary check of a seismic load combination using 0.7E but the full dead load, so D+0.7E and then check wall sliding and overturning to a 1.1 factor of safety. This is what 1807A.2.3 indicates in a nut shell.
Granted the "A" chapter of design only applies to DSA and OSHPD projects, but I still think it is a good idea. I have seen some large retaining walls suffer damage post earthquake. What that tells me is, there is an earthquake load combo that should be investigated in high seismic zones for cantilevered retaining walls.