The effect of tangential loading on the subsurface stress field has been investigated numerically. As tangential load increases, the subsurface stress field expands more widely to the direction of the tangential load. Places of the maximum shear stress and the maximum effective stress are getting closer to the surface with the increasing tangential load. The tangential load in an elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication condition is so low that it does not affect the subsurface stress field.