Abstract:Water content of loess is a very important parameter for seismic subsidence.The subsidence characters of the typical Q3 loess,located on third terrace of Tao River are systemically investigated.The samples taken at depth of 4 m,8 m,12 m,16 m,20 m in a 20 m depth pit are researched in laboratory.The results show some primary achievements:(1) the seismic subsidence capacity of natural loess gradually weakens with depth increasing;(2) there is a obvious law that the seismic subsidence capacity of loess increases with the growth of water content in same depth from experimenting 4 samples with 5%,10%,15% and 20% water content,which were acquired by humidification and dehumidification of the samples;(3)Through analyzing the experiment data,the quantitative law of water content influence on the seismic subsidence capacity of loess is found,and based on the law,the critical water contents of loess seismic subsidence are given under different dynamic stress.