An illustration of the plan of a strike fault. The fault surface is usually near vertical and the footwall moves either left or right or laterally with very little vertical motion. Strike-slip faults with left-lateral motion are also known as sinistral faults. Those with right-lateral motion are also known as dextral faults. A special class of strike-slip faults is the transform faults which are a plate tectonics feature related to spreading centers such as mid-ocean ridges.

Plan of a Strike Fault

An illustration of the plan of a strike fault. The fault surface is usually near vertical and the footwall…