Fault rockburst is treated as a strain localization problem under dynamic loading condition considering strain gradient and strain rate. As a kind of dynamic fracture phenomena, rockburst has characteristics of strain localization, which is considered as a one-dimensional shear problem subjected to normal compressive stress and tangential shear stress. The constitutive relation of rock material is bilinear (elastic and strain softening) and sensitive to shear strain rate. The solutions proposed based on gradient-dependent plasticity show that intense plastic strain is concentrated in fault band and the thickness of the band depends on the characteristic length of rock material. The post-peak stiffness of the fault band was determined according to the constitutive parameters of rock material and shear strain rate. Fault band undergoing strain softening and elastic rock mass outside the band constitute a system and the instability criterion of the system was proposed based on energy theory. The criterion As a kind of dynamic fracture phenomena, rockburst has characteristics of strain localization, which is considered as one-dimensional shear problem subjected to normal compressive stress and tangential shear stress. The constitutive relation of rock material is bilinear (elastic and strain softening) and sensitive to shear strain rate. The solutions proposed based on gradient-dependent plasticity show that intense plastic strain is concentrated in fault band and the thickness of the band depends on the characteristic length of rock material. The post-peak stiffness of the fault band was determined according to the constitutive parameters of rock material and shear strain rate. Fault band undergoing strain softening and elastic rock mass outside the band constitute a system and the instability criterion of the system was proposed based on energy theo ry. The criterion