Faults can lock for long periods of time, then slip abruptly, generating an earthquake. However, the sides of some faults creep past each other slowly rather than locking. Whether a fault is locked or creeping affects the earthquake hazard it poses. Here, we use seismic waves generated by global earthquakes recorded at seismic stations sitting near faults. Rock around a fault can deform and develop a preferential foliation, which is detected by the seismic waves. We find that most faults have foliation that is oriented parallel to the fault, but in some cases, the foliation fabric is very pronounced, while in other cases it is weak. Our initial hypothesis was that the farther two sides of the fault slid past each other, the stronger the fabric, but our observations contradict this hypothesis. However, we do find a strong correlation showing strong fabric near creeping fault segments and weak fabric near locked fault segments. We propose that both behaviors are determined by the type of rock that is present around the fault: Some rock types develop a strong deformation fabric and also promote creeping, while other rock types develop only weak deformation fabric and promote locking.