Abstract The formula to express relationship between the surface horizontal, vertical deformation and fault rotation is derived from a disclination model. In order to verify the validity of this new derived formulas, the surface deformation in Longmenshan fault zone is computed by using the new derived formula. The computed results are compared with those computed by dislocation model which have same fault parameters as disclination model except slip components and rotations in the same region. The results manifest that：1） the surface deformation induced by fault rotation is as same order as that induced by fault slip in magnitude;2）The surface horizontal displacements due to fault rotation has similar space distribution characteristics with those due to fault slip, but the direction and magnitude of the horizontal displacement induced by fault rotation have a little difference with those induced by fault slip in space contribution；3）The vertical displacements caused by fault rotation have smaller space area than those induced by fault slip, and the vertical displacement lie near two ends of the fault.
