The Suárez Fault () is a sinistral oblique thrust fault in the department of Santander in northeastern Colombia. The fault has a total length of and runs along an average north-northeast to south-southwest strike of 021.1 ± 8 in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes from Barbosa in the south to Bucaramanga in the north, where it connects with the regional Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault.
Etymology The fault is named after the Suárez River.Paris et al., 2000, p.34
Description The Suárez Fault runs from Barbosa in the south,Mapa Geológico Santander, 1999 where it displaces the Simití Formation,Plancha 170, 2009 and joins the Bucaramanga Fault a few kilometers to the north of the city of Bucaramanga. The Suárez Fault cuts Jurassic (Girón Formation),Plancha 135, 2009 and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks (Simití, Rosablanca and Paja Formations),Plancha 151, 2009 and Quaternary alluvial deposits and mud flows that form the "Bucaramanga Terrace".Plancha 120, 2010 The trace of the fault is well defined, controls linear drainages such as the Suárez River for several kilometers, has sag ponds, and locally dams alluvium. The fault vertically offsets debris flows in the area of Girón and La Fuente and displaces a Tertiary erosion surface. The slip rate is estimated at per year on the basis of displaced Quaternary deposits.
See also
List of earthquakes in Colombia Cimitarra Fault
References
Bibliography
Maps
Further reading