Fatigue experiments were carried out in laboratory air using an extruded magnesium alloy, AZ31. Two kinds of specimens, with axial directions parallel (designated as L specimen) or vertical (designated as T specimen), were used for comparison. In the present study, two kinds of materials processed at two different extrusion temperatures were used. By comparing the S-N curves of both specimens, effects of the microstructure of an extruded AZ31 magnesium alloy on the fatigue characteristics were studied.