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Reverse Fault or
Thrust Fault Compression
Strike,
Dip and
Rake
Strike - Direction of line
formed by intersection of
fault plane and horizontal
plane (defined so dip is to
right of strike)
Dip - downward inclination
of fault plane relative to
horizontal
Rake - Direction of motion
on fault measured
anticlockwise on fault plane
from strike direction
Fa
ul
t
Pl
an
e
Pl
an
e
first motion
= Seismic wave
Au
xi
lia
ry
Dilatational
(downward)
Compressional
(upward) first
motion
Au
xil
ia
ry
Pl
D
an
e
Fa
ul
tP
la
ne
tP
la
ne
Au
xi
lia
ry
Fa
ul
Pl
an
e
C
D
Focal Sphere
An small imaginary sphere surrounding the
location where the earthquake first ruptures.
The seismic waves (or rays) traveling from the
earthquake to any station will intersect the focal
sphere.
The regions of dilitational and compressional
motions will divide the focal sphere into four
quadrants (orange slices) separated by the fault
and auxiliary planes.
You will now get a ping pong ball which you
will prepare as a visual aid to understand this.
Vertical Plane
striking north
south
Vertical Ray
Ray taking-off to
SE and upwards
at 45 (upper
hemisphere
projection) or
downwards at 45
(lower
hemisphere
projection)
Strike-Slip
Focal
Mechanism
Normal Faulting
n
io
s
es
pr
s
es
pr
m
Co
m
Co
Dilatation
n
io
la
Di
n
t io
ta
Cross Section
Cross Section
Compression
la
Di
la
Di
n
tio
ta
n
tio
ta
m
Co
s
es
pr
Cross Section
n
io
Cross Section
Confused?
Do the lab
Lab 13. Determining a Focal Mechanisms
Background Reading
A draft primer on focal mechanism solutions for
geologists by Vince Cronin
http://serc.carleton.edu/files/NAGTWorkshops/s
tructure04/Focal_mechanism_primer.pdf