| Cimitarra Fault | |
| Other Name: | Falla de Cimitarra |
| Namedfor: | Cimitarra River |
| Pushpin Map: | Colombia |
| Pushpin Relief: | 1 |
| Region: | Andean |
| State: | Antioquia, Bolívar, Santander |
| Cities: | Cantagallo, Puerto Wilches |
| Coordinates: | 7.3367°N -73.9231°W |
| Range: | Central Ranges, Andes |
| Part Of: | Andean oblique faults |
| Length: | 136.5km (84.8miles) |
| Strike: | 323 ± 3 |
| Dip: | unknown |
| Dip Angle: | unknown |
| Displacement: | 0.1-/yr |
| Plate: | North Andean |
| Status: | Inactive |
| Type: | Oblique thrust fault |
| Movement: | Sinistral reverse |
| Age: | Quaternary |
| Orogeny: | Andean |
The Cimitarra Fault (es|Falla de Cimitarra) is a sinistral oblique thrust fault in the departments of Antioquia, Bolívar and Santander in central Colombia. The fault has a total length of 136.5km (84.8miles) and runs along an average northeast to southwest strike of 323 ± 3 in the Middle Magdalena Valley and Central Ranges of the Colombian Andes.
The fault is named after the Cimitarra River, Antioquia, a left tributary of the Magdalena River.[1]
The Cimitarra Fault splays from the Palestina Fault in a northeasterly direction on the eastern border of the Central Ranges of the Colombian Andes,[1] passes north of Barrancabermeja,[2] and possibly connects to the Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault in the northeast.[3] The fault displaces Jurassic to Cretaceous volcanic rocks, Mesozoic igneous rocks, a Tertiary erosion surface in the Central Ranges, and late Quaternary sediments. Portions of the fault are pre-Pliocene in age, since it is locally covered by undeformed Pliocene sediments. Farther northeast, the fault is overlain by young alluvial deposits of the Middle Magdalena Valley.[1]
The fault is marked by well preserved fault scarps, long straight traces, displaced drainages, and it forms aligned river courses. The slip rate is calculated at 0.1mm1mm per year.[4]