The surface response of an infinite, homogeneous elastic plate to an internal dislocation across an infinitestimal area is investigated. As a companion problem, the normal displacement of the plate surface due to a time-dependent surface load is also calculated. The first problem is relevant for the detection of crack initiation in structural materials through the analysis of high-frequency elastic waves generated by the event. The solution to the second problem is needed for the calibration of test equipment used in the detection of the waves. The problems are formulated by means of a classical integral transform in the frequency domain and the spectral response of the plate is expressed in terms of the modal contributions due to the real, imaginary, and complex roots of the Rayleigh-Lamb equation. Time histories of the response are obtained through the inversion of the spectra by a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) routine.