• 14 parts
  • Checked October 2026

Types of Faults Diagram

Three kinds of fault as blocks of rock, with hanging wall and footwall named on the normal and reverse faults.

Types of Faults Diagram

Name Date

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Normal fault
  2. Hanging wall
  3. Footwall
  4. Fault scarp
  5. Dip
  6. Tension
  7. Reverse fault
  8. Hanging wall
  9. Footwall
  10. Compression
  11. Thrust fault
  12. Strike-slip fault
  13. Fault trace
  14. Shear

Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: an earthquake on one of these faults

All 14 parts on the diagram

Show the list

Start here: which is which 6

  1. Normal fault The block above the break has moved down. It forms where the crust is pulled apart.
  2. Hanging wall It rests on top of the fault. On a normal fault it has moved down.
  3. Footwall It lies under the fault. Here it ends up higher than the hanging wall.
  4. Reverse fault The block above the break has moved up. It forms where the crust is squeezed.
  5. Thrust fault A reverse fault that slopes 45 degrees or less.
  6. Strike-slip fault The two blocks have slid sideways past each other. This one is right-lateral: seen from either block, the other has moved to the right.

Normal fault 3

  1. Fault scarp A step in the land made by slip on the fault.
  2. Dip The angle a fault slopes down from the horizontal.
  3. Tension Stress that pulls the crust apart. It makes normal faults.

Reverse and thrust 3

  1. Hanging wall It rests on top of the fault. On a reverse fault it has moved up.
  2. Footwall It lies under the fault. Here it ends up lower than the hanging wall.
  3. Compression Stress that squeezes the crust. It makes reverse and thrust faults.

Strike-slip fault 2

  1. Fault trace The line where a fault meets the ground surface. Maps draw a fault along it.
  2. Shear Stress that slides rock sideways past rock. It makes strike-slip faults.

How this list was compiled: Every name and definition checked on 2026-10-03 in at least two independent sources. (1) U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquake Hazards Program glossary, https://www.usgs.gov/glossary/earthquake-hazards-program (fault, fault plane, fault scarp, fault trace, dip, the entry for normal, dip-slip and thrust faults, strike-slip fault with right lateral and left lateral, tensional, compressional and shear stress), and its page What is a fault and what are the different types?, https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-a-fault-and-what-are-different-types (normal faulting in response to extension, reverse and thrust faulting in areas of compression). (2) National Park Service, Glossary of Geologic Terms, table at https://www.nps.gov/common/uploads/sortable_dataset/geology/DBD85DC6-CA83-CEE3-0786454132D79FCD/nri-GlossaryTable.csv (hanging wall, footwall, normal fault, reverse fault, thrust fault, strike-slip fault, scarp, dip, compression, extension, shear). (3) Tulane University, EENS 1110 Physical Geology lecture notes, Deformation of Rock, https://www2.tulane.edu/~sanelson/eens1110/deform.htm (tensional, compressional and shear stress; normal faults from tensional stress with the hanging-wall block down; reverse faults from compressional stress with the hanging-wall block up; a thrust fault dips less than 45 degrees; strike-slip faults from shear stress). (4) Wikipedia, Fault (geology), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fault_(geology), and Fault trace, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fault_trace, text only (hanging wall above and footwall below the fault plane; normal, reverse, thrust and strike-slip faults; fault trace or fault line). (5) California Geological Survey, Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zones, https://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/alquist-priolo (a fault's trace is its line on the earth's surface). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry. The blocks are invented; nothing is traced or copied. Licence: own work

How it works

This types of faults diagram draws a normal fault, a reverse fault with a thrust fault beside it, and a strike-slip fault, each as a block of layered rock. Read the names, then press Quiz me.

Read the full guide

Find the two walls first

On a sloping fault, the hanging wall is the block above the break and the footwall is the block below it. The break itself is the fault plane. If the hanging wall has moved down, the fault is normal. If it has moved up, the fault is reverse, and a reverse fault that slopes 45 degrees or less is a thrust fault.

Then the arrows

Wide arrows show the stress. Tension pulls a block apart, compression squeezes it and shear slides one side past the other. The strike-slip fault here is drawn upright, so it has no hanging wall and no footwall.

Questions and answers

How do I label the hanging wall and footwall shown in the image?

On this site's own drawing, find the sloping break first. The block that lies above it is the hanging wall and the block below it is the footwall. Press Quiz me to be asked both, on a normal fault and on a reverse fault.

What are the three types of faults?

Normal, reverse and strike-slip. On a normal fault the block above the break moves down, on a reverse fault it moves up, and on a strike-slip fault the two blocks slide past each other sideways. A thrust fault is a gently sloping reverse fault.

What is the difference between a normal fault and a reverse fault?

The direction the hanging wall has moved. On a normal fault it has moved down, where the crust is pulled apart. On a reverse fault it has moved up, where the crust is squeezed.

What is a fault scarp?

A fault scarp is a step in the land made by slip on a fault. On the first block it is the bare strip between the higher ground and the lower ground.

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