By turning to the theory of elastic thin plates, a mechanical model of the main roof breaking for severely inclined seam under long wall working was esbalished, in which formulaes were deduced for the calculation of the stress distribution. When the main roof stress distribution was characterized, the failure form of the roof in the long wall coal seam under work was given with the failure criterion deduced. The deduced failure criterion was then applied to the No.3232（3） face of the Li- zuizi Coal Mine; the first pressure for the working face was accurately predicted. Results of the field application show that the main roof of the severely inclined coal seam under long wall working breaks in the O-X pattern, which is basically in accor- dance with the reality.
