In this paper, shaking table tests of two shallow reticulated shells under earthquake loading were described. Local and global dynamic instabilities were observed in the test and time-istory curves for stresses of members and nodal displacements were given respectively. It was shown that there were sudden changes in these curves, which were regarded as the signs of local and global dynamic instability. Based on test results, the law of structural dynamic instability was summarized, the definition of dynamic instability and several practical criteria proposed by the authors were illuminated. Finally, some calculation results from theoretical analyses of the two models under static and dynamic loading were given. By comparison of them, it can be seen that there are many common properties that reflect the stability behaviors and can be used to determine the state of static and dynamic stability of structures.