Southern Africa
What tectonic plate is Botswana on?
Botswana sits entirely on the African Plate.
- Plates
- 1
- M6.5+ quakes since 1900
- 1
- Holocene volcanoes
- 0
- Land area
- 580,623 km²
Plates under Botswana
Share of Botswana's land area on each plate (PB2002 model, Natural Earth outlines).
Plate boundaries
A plate boundary runs through or along Botswana: the Somali-African boundary (divergent, about 0.3 cm/yr).
Earthquakes in Botswana
Large earthquakes are uncommon in Botswana. Since 1900 the USGS has recorded 1 of magnitude 6.5 or more in or just off the country.
| Earthquake | Magnitude | Year | Depth | Plate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 132 km WSW of Moijabana, Botswana | M6.5 | 2017 | 29 km | African |
Volcanoes in Botswana
Botswana has no volcanoes that have erupted in the last 12,000 years, according to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.
Frequently asked questions
What tectonic plate is Botswana on?
Botswana sits entirely on the African Plate.
Is Botswana on a plate boundary?
A plate boundary runs through or along Botswana: the Somali-African boundary (divergent, about 0.3 cm/yr).
Does Botswana get earthquakes?
Large earthquakes are uncommon in Botswana. Since 1900 the USGS has recorded 1 of magnitude 6.5 or more in or just off the country. The largest was the M6.5 132 km WSW of Moijabana, Botswana in 2017.
Are there volcanoes in Botswana?
Botswana has no volcanoes that have erupted in the last 12,000 years, according to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.