Abstract: The influence of overburden and cavern shape as well as in-situ stress condition on the displacement characteristics of rock cavern under earthquake were analyzed.It was reported that the cavern displacement decreased with the increasing overburden.When λ≥1(especially λ>2),there was a critical depth(200～300 m)which decreased with the increasing λ(side pressure coefficient).It was also suggested that the displacement of circular cavern was less than that of triangular and hoof-like cavern under the same loading condition.As well,the cavern displacement decreased with the increasing λ(side pressure coefficient),and the decreasing rates tended to decrease with the increasing overburden.It was further revealed that the cavern displacement and its decreasing rate with increasing λ at the condition of λ<1 were significantly larger than those of λ>1.The present work could be used as a primary guidance to the anti-earthquake design for underground cavern.