SUMMARYThe coupled hydro‐mechanical state in soils coming from consolidation/subsidence processes and undergoing plasticity phenomena is here evaluated by means of the subloading surface model. The most important feature of this theory is the abolition of the distinction between the elastic and plastic domains, as it happens in the conventional elastoplastic models. This means that plastic deformations are generated whenever there is a change in stress and a smoother elastoplastic transition is produced. The plasticity algorithm has been implemented in the PLASCON3D FE code, coupling hydro‐thermo‐mechanical fields within a saturated (locally partially saturated) porous medium subjected to external loads and water/gas withdrawals from deep layers (aquifers/reservoirs). The 3D model has been first calibrated and validated against examples taken from the literature, and then subsidence analyses at regional scales due to gas extractions have been developed to predict the evolution of settlements and pore pressure in soils for long‐term scenarios. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.