What Are the Four Fault Types?

There are four main types of faults, and they’re like little cracks that form when rocks move under the Earth’s surface, just like when you push or pull on a toy.

Imagine you're playing with two blocks side by side. If one block slides smoothly past the other, it's called a strike-slip fault. This is like when you slide your hand along a table, no up and down, just sideways movement.

Now picture stacking cups on a table. If the table suddenly moves, one cup might pop up while another drops down, that’s like a reverse fault. It happens when one side of the Earth's surface pushes up against the other.

If you flip that around and imagine one side dropping while the other stays still, it's called a normal fault, just like stacking cups and then letting one fall off the table.

Lastly, if one block moves up while the other moves down at an angle, like sliding your hand across a slightly tilted surface, that’s a thrust fault, which is a special kind of reverse fault.

Each type of fault tells us how the rocks moved, just like how you move your hands or toys can tell us what's happening under the ground!