Earthquake and Faults

A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock that allow the blocks to move relative to each
other123. Faults may range in length from a few millimeters to thousands of kilometers 1. Energy released by the rapid
movement on active faults is what causes most earthquakes in the world today 23. Earthquakes occur most often
along geologic faults, narrow zones where rock masses move in relation to each other 4. The major fault lines of the world
are located at the fringes of the huge tectonic plates that make up Earth's crust4.
What are Earthquake Fault Lines?

Every so often, in different regions of the world, the Earth feels the need to release energy in the form of seismic waves.
These waves cause a great deal of hazards as the energy is transferred through the tectonic plates and into the Earth’s
crust. For those living in an area directly above where two tectonic plates meet, the experience can be quite harrowing!
This area is known as a fault, or a fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there is significant
displacement. Along the line where the Earth and the fault plane meet, is what is known as a fault line. Understanding
where they lie is crucial to our understanding of Earth’s geology, not to mention earthquake preparedness programs.
Definition:
In geology, a fault is a fracture or discontinuity in the planet’s surface, along which movement and displacement takes
place. On Earth, they are the result of activity with plate tectonics, the largest of which takes place at the plate boundaries.
Energy released by the rapid movement on active faults is what causes most earthquakes in the world today.
Since faults do not usually consist of a single, clean fracture, geologists use the term “fault zone” when referring to the
area where complex deformation is associated with the fault plane. The two sides of a non-vertical fault are known as the
“hanging wall” and “footwall”.
By definition, the hanging wall occurs above the fault and the footwall occurs below the fault. This terminology comes from
mining. Basically, when working a tabular ore body, the miner stood with the footwall under his feet and with the hanging
wall hanging above him. This terminology has endured for geological engineers and surveyors.
Mechanisms:
The composition of Earth’s tectonic plates means that they cannot glide past each other easily along fault lines, and
instead produce incredible amounts of friction. On occasion, the movement stops, causing stress to build up in rocks until
it reaches a threshold. At this point, the accumulated stress is released along the fault line in the form of an earthquake.
When it comes to fault lines and the role they have in earthquakes, three important factors come into play. These are
known as the “slip”, “heave” and “throw”. Slip refers to the relative movement of geological features present on either side
of the fault plane; in other words, the relative motion of the rock on each side of the fault with respect to the other side.
Heave refers to the measurement of the horizontal/vertical separation, while throw is used to measure the horizontal
separation. Slip is the most important characteristic, in that it helps geologists to classify faults.
Types of Faults:
There are three categories or fault types. The first is what is known as a “dip-slip fault”, where the relative movement (or
slip) is almost vertical. A perfect example of this is the San Andreas fault, which was responsible for the massive 1906 San
Francisco Earthquake.
Second, there are “strike-slip faults”, in which case the slip is approximately horizontal. These are generally found in mid-
ocean ridges, such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge – a 16,000 km long submerged mountain chain occupying the center of the
Atlantic Ocean.
Lastly, there are oblique-slip faults which are a combination of the previous two, where both vertical and horizontal slips
occur. Nearly all faults will have some component of both dip-slip and strike-slip, so defining a fault as oblique requires
both dip and strike components to be measurable and significant.
Impacts of Fault Lines:
For people living in active fault zones, earthquakes are a regular hazard and can play havoc with infrastructure, and can
lead to injuries and death. As such, structural engineers must ensure that safeguards are taken when building along fault
zones, and factor in the level of fault activity in the region.
This is especially true when building crucial infrastructure, such as pipelines, power plants, damns, hospitals and schools.
In coastal regions, engineers must also address whether tectonic activity can lead to tsunami hazards.
For example, in California, new construction is prohibited on or near faults that have been active since the Holocene
epoch (the last 11,700 years) or even the Pleistocene epoch (in the past 2.6 million years). Similar safeguards play a role
in new construction projects in locations along the Pacific Rim of fire, where many urban centers exist (particularly in
Japan).
Various techniques are used to gauge when the last time fault activity took place, such as studying soil and mineral
samples, organic and radiocarbon dating.
We have written many articles about the earthquake for Universe Today. Here’s What Causes Earthquakes?, What is an
Earthquake?, Plate Boundaries, Famous Earthquakes, and What is the Pacific Ring of Fire?
Earthquakes occur on faults - strike-slip earthquakes occur on strike-slip faults, normal earthquakes occur on normal
faults, and thrust earthquakes occur on reverse or thrust faults. When an earthquake occurs on one of these faults, the
rock on one side of the fault slips with respect to the other. The fault surface can be vertical, horizontal, or at some angle
to the surface of the earth. The slip direction can also be at any angle.
What is a fault?
Earthquakes occur on faults. A fault is a thin zone of crushed rock separating blocks of the earth's crust. When an
earthquake occurs on one of these faults, the rock on one side of the fault slips with respect to the other. Faults can be
centimeters to thousands of kilometers long. The fault surface can be vertical, horizontal, or at some angle to the surface
of the earth. Faults can extend deep into the earth and may or may not extend up to the earth's surface.
How do we know a fault exists?
Past fault movement has brought together rocks that used to be farther apart;
Earthquakes on the fault have left surface evidence, such as surface ruptures or fault scarps (cliffs made by earthquakes);
Earthquakes recorded by seismographic networks are mapped and indicate the location of a fault.
Some faults have not shown these signs and we will not know they are there until they produce a large earthquake.
Several damaging earthquakes in California have occurred on faults that were previously unknown.
What is an earthquake?
An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault, much like what happens when you snap your fingers. Before the
snap, you push your fingers together and sideways. Because you are pushing them together, friction keeps them from
moving to the side. When you push sideways hard enough to overcome this friction, your fingers move suddenly,
releasing energy in the form of sound waves that set the air vibrating and travel from your hand to your ear, where you
hear the snap.
The same process goes on in an earthquake. Stresses in the earth's outer layer push the sides of the fault together. The
friction across the surface of the fault holds the rocks together so they do not slip immediately when pushed sideways.
Eventually enough stress builds up and the rocks slip suddenly, releasing energy in waves that travel through the rock to
cause the shaking that we feel during an earthquake.
Just as you snap your fingers with the whole area of your fingertip and thumb, earthquakes happen over an area of the
fault, called the rupture surface. However, unlike your fingers, the whole fault plane does not slip at once. The rupture
begins at a point on the fault plane called the hypocenter, a point usually deep down on the fault. The epicenter is the
point on the surface directly above the hypocenter. The rupture keeps spreading until something stops it (exactly how this
happens is a hot research topic in seismology).
Aftershocks
Part of living with earthquakes is living with aftershocks. Earthquakes come in clusters. In any earthquake cluster, the
largest one is called the mainshock; anything before it is a foreshock, and anything after it is an aftershock.
Aftershocks are earthquakes that usually occur near the mainshock. The stress on the mainshock's fault changes during
the mainshock and most of the aftershocks occur on the same fault. Sometimes the change in stress is great enough to
trigger aftershocks on nearby faults as well.
An earthquake large enough to cause damage will probably produce several felt aftershocks within the first hour. The rate
of aftershocks dies off quickly. The day after the mainshock has about half the aftershocks of the first day. Ten days after
the mainshock there are only a tenth the number of aftershocks. An earthquake will be called an aftershock as long as the
rate of earthquakes is higher than it was before the mainshock. For big earthquakes this might go on for decades.
Bigger earthquakes have more and larger aftershocks. The bigger the mainshock, the bigger the largest aftershock, on
average, though there are many more small aftershocks than large ones. Also, just as smaller earthquakes can continue
to occur a year or more after a mainshock, there is still a chance for a large aftershock long after an earthquake.
Foreshocks
Sometimes what we think is a mainshock is followed by a larger earthquake. Then the original earthquake is considered a
foreshock. The chance of this happening dies off quickly with time just like aftershocks. After three days the risk is almost
gone.
Sometimes, the chance that an event is a foreshock seems higher than average - usually because of its proximity to a
major fault. The California Emergency Management Agency will then issue an advisory based on scientists'
recommendations. These are the only officially recognized short-term "predictions."
What is a fault and what are the different types?
A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. Faults allow the blocks to move relative to each
other. This movement may occur rapidly, in the form of an earthquake - or may occur slowly, in the form of creep. Faults
may range in length from a few millimeters to thousands of kilometers. Most faults produce repeated displacements over
geologic time. During an earthquake, the rock on one side of the fault suddenly slips with respect to the other. The fault
surface can be horizontal or vertical or some arbitrary angle in between.
Earth scientists use the angle of the fault with respect to the surface (known as the dip) and the direction of slip along the
fault to classify faults. Faults which move along the direction of the dip plane are dip-slip faults and described as either
normal or reverse (thrust), depending on their motion. Faults which move horizontally are known as strike-slip faults and
are classified as either right-lateral or left-lateral. Faults which show both dip-slip and strike-slip motion are known as
oblique-slip faults.
The following definitions are adapted from The Earth by Press and Siever.
normal fault - a dip-slip fault in which the block above the fault has moved downward relative to the block below. This type
of faulting occurs in response to extension and is often observed in the Western United States Basin and Range Province
and along oceanic ridge systems.
Normal Fault Animation
reverse (thrust) fault - a dip-slip fault in which the upper block, above the fault plane, moves up and over the lower
block. This type of faulting is common in areas of compression, such as regions where one plate is being subducted under
another as in Japan. When the dip angle is shallow, a reverse fault is often described as a thrust fault.
Thrust Fault Animation
Blind Thrust Fault Animation
strike-slip fault - a fault on which the two blocks slide past one another. The San Andreas Fault is an example of a right
lateral fault.
Strike-slip Fault Animation
A left-lateral strike-slip fault is one on which the displacement of the far block is to the left when viewed from either side.
A right-lateral strike-slip fault is one on which the displacement of the far block is to the right when viewed from either side.

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A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock that allow the blocks to move relative to each

What are Earthquake Fault Lines?

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