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A fault plane is an idealized planar surface across which rock has slipped. A curved fault can be described by local fault planes. Its orientation is specified by fault strike and fault dip, and the slip direction within it by fault rake.

The fault rake specifies the slip direction within a fault plane. With an along-strike unit vector $\mathbf{s}$ and a down-dip unit vector $\mathbf{d}$, one explicit convention is $\mathbf{b}/b=\cos \lambda \mathbf{s}-\sin \lambda \mathbf{d}$. Positive $90^{\circ }$ then denotes up-dip slip. A convention must accompany a signed fault rake.

A geological fault is a fracture or fracture zone across which rock has undergone relative displacement. Its local geometry is described by a fault plane, fault strike, fault dip and fault rake. A locked fault can store elastic strain while surrounding rock deforms; some faults also accommodate displacement by slow creep.

For a double-couple seismic source, measure P-wave first-motion polarity signs and use source-to-station takeoff angles from the location and velocity model to plot them on a focal sphere. Fit the alternating radiation-sign quadrants, optionally adding amplitude ratios and waveform information. The two nodal planes determine a focal mechanism, conventionally expressed by fault strike, fault dip and fault rake.

A more general waveform inversion fits a seismic moment tensor to several components and stations. Its double-couple part supplies candidate slip and normal vectors, but a general moment tensor should not be forced to be double-couple without justification. Polarity calibration, near-nodal observations, path effects and takeoff-angle errors limit the result.

Point-source radiation alone interchanges the fault plane and auxiliary plane without changing the double couple. Resolve this fault-plane ambiguity using mapped rupture, aftershock geometry, geodesy or finite-rupture directivity. A dense set of polarity picks does not by itself remove that fundamental ambiguity.

A fault plane represents the surface across which the two sides of a fault slip. A real fault need not be perfectly planar; these angles can describe a local planar segment. Its fault strike is the azimuth, measured clockwise from north, of its horizontal intersection. The line itself has a $180^{\circ }$ ambiguity; choose the direction for which the fault dips to the right. Its fault dip, $\delta$, is the angle below horizontal measured perpendicular to that fault strike, from $0^{\circ }$ for horizontal to $90^{\circ }$ for vertical.

The fault rake, $\lambda$, is the angle of the relative slip vector within the fault plane. State the sign convention: if $\mathbf{s}$ is the chosen strike direction and $\mathbf{d}$ points down dip, useThus $\lambda =0$ is slip along $\mathbf{s}$, $+90^{\circ }$ is up-dip slip and $-90^{\circ }$ is down-dip slip. This distinguishes the direction in which the fault is tilted from the direction in which it actually moves.

The hypocentre is the point where rupture begins within the Earth. The epicentre is the point on the surface directly above it. The hypocentre need not coincide with the centroid of the final rupture. Orientation uses strike and dip; motion additionally needs rake; epicentre and hypocentre locate the rupture's start.^[ref]