About us
Plate Tectonics Map is a free, independent atlas of the plates under our feet, built for students, teachers and anyone who has ever wondered why the ground shakes where it does.
Our mission
Plate tectonics explains almost everything about the shape of our planet: where mountains rise, where oceans open, why Japan and Chile shake so often and why Iceland splits a little wider every year. Yet the scientific plate models behind those answers are usually locked inside research papers and GIS files. Our goal is simple: turn that science into maps and pages that anyone can open on a phone and understand in a few minutes, without sign-ups, paywalls or jargon.
We want a student writing a geography assignment, a teacher planning a lesson, a traveler about to visit a volcanic island and a curious reader who just felt an earthquake to all find a clear, accurate answer in one place.
What you will find here
- An interactive tectonic plates map of all 52 plates in Peter Bird's PB2002 model, drawn on NASA satellite imagery, with boundary types, plate speeds, historic earthquakes and volcanoes as switchable layers.
- A profile for every plate: its size, share of Earth's surface, neighbors, boundary types and speeds, the countries it carries, its largest earthquakes and its volcanoes, with a plain-language explanation of how it moves.
- An answer page for 213 countries and territories that tells you which plate or plates each one sits on, which boundaries cross it and how often it has strong earthquakes.
- Live maps of today's earthquakes from the USGS, 1,214 volcanoes from the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program, active tropical cyclones from GDACS and the aurora forecast from NOAA.
- Guides and reference pages on plate boundaries, the Ring of Fire, Pangaea and how many plates there are, plus a glossary, a FAQ and free printable maps for the classroom.
- Eight languages: English, Spanish, Japanese, French, German, Portuguese, Korean and Italian, with the same maps and data in each.
Where the numbers come from
Every number on the site is computed from published scientific data rather than copied from other websites. Plate outlines, boundary types and relative speeds come from Peter Bird's PB2002 model, published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems in 2003 and still the most widely used global set of plate boundaries. Country outlines come from Natural Earth. Historic earthquakes come from the US Geological Survey's ComCat catalog, volcanoes from the Smithsonian Institution, storm tracks from NOAA's HURDAT2 database and live feeds from the USGS, NOAA and GDACS.
We process those datasets ourselves. Plate areas are measured on the sphere, the share of each country on each plate is measured by overlaying country outlines on the plate polygons, and every earthquake and volcano is assigned to the plate under its location. The data sources and methods page lists every dataset, its license and exactly how we used it.
Accuracy and corrections
Plate tectonics is an active science. Some boundaries, especially around small microplates and broad deforming zones like Tibet, are still debated, and different models draw them differently. Where it matters, plate pages say so instead of hiding the uncertainty. We review pages when new data is released and rebuild the historic earthquake and volcano statistics periodically.
If you spot an error, a broken map or a translation that reads badly, please tell us. Corrections are checked against the original data and are usually live within a few days. We do not accept payment to change, add or remove information.
How the site is funded
Plate Tectonics Map is free to use and will stay free. To cover hosting and development, the site may show advertising served by Google AdSense. Ads are clearly separated from the content, and advertisers have no influence over what we write, which data we show or how we present it. We do not publish sponsored articles or paid placements. How advertising cookies work, and how to opt out of personalized ads, is explained in our privacy policy.
Built for speed and privacy
Pages are plain HTML generated ahead of time, so they load quickly even on slow mobile connections, and the maps draw their own outlines on satellite imagery we host ourselves. We do not require accounts. Tools that use your location, such as Find my plate and the aurora check, run entirely in your browser: your coordinates are never sent to us.
Not a warning service
This site is for learning and general interest. It is not an earthquake, tsunami, volcano or storm warning system, and live feeds can be delayed. For warnings and safety advice always follow your national meteorological or geological agency and local civil protection authorities.
Get in touch
Questions, ideas for new maps and classroom requests are welcome. Write to us through the contact page; we read every message.