What are the different types of earthquake faults?
There are various types of earthquake faults, usually recognized by the orientation of the fault and the slip on the fault. For example, we have “Strike-Slip” faults, where the orientation is a vertical plane across which motion occurs horizontally. We have “Normal” earthquake faults, where the fault plane is dipping at an angle to the surface and the motion is the upper block, downward. We have “Reverse” faults, where the plane is dipping and the motion is the upper block, upward. A “Thrust” earthquake fault is a low-angle Reverse fault, so that corresponds to a fault plane which is dipping at shallow angles to the surface, and along which the motion of the upper block is upward.
