A new interpretation of the 2016 Meinong earthquake is proposed based on the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites, high-rate GPS and strong motion data. The fault geometry is firstly estimated by the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) surface deformation data. Then, the coseismic rupture process is inferred through the 1-Hz GPS and strong motion data based on the estimated fault geometry parameters. The InSAR-derived best-fitting fault geometry model suggests that the preferred fault strike and dip angles are 271.7° and 22.7°, respectively. The inferred fault rupture model indicates that the coseismic fault rupture is a mixed motion of thrust and left-strike slip with the maximum slip of ~ 1.0 m, and the high slip area is located at 9–16 km underground. The snapshots demonstrate that the coseismic fault rupture propagation is along the northwest direction, with the entire duration of ~ 16 s. Besides, the InSAR-derived faulting model reflects that the InSAR observation includes the deformation caused by aseismic slip and aftershock. However, the InSAR-derived fault geometry model can significantly contribute to the estimation of the rupture process based on the high-rate GPS and strong motion data.