Southern Asia
What tectonic plate is Iran on?
Iran spans 2 tectonic plates: the Eurasian Plate (97%) and the Arabian Plate (3.0%).
- Plates
- 2
- M6.5+ quakes since 1900
- 31
- Holocene volcanoes
- 1
- Land area
- 1.62 million km²
Plates under Iran
Share of Iran's land area on each plate (PB2002 model, Natural Earth outlines).
Plate boundaries
A plate boundary runs through or along Iran: the Arabian-Eurasian boundary (convergent, about 3.5 cm/yr).
The fastest of these is the Arabian-Eurasian boundary, where the plates move about 3.5 cm/yr relative to each other. That is faster than fingernails grow.
Earthquakes in Iran
Iran has frequent large earthquakes: 31 of magnitude 6.5 or more struck in or just off the country since 1900 (rank 28 of 213).
Volcanoes in Iran
The Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program lists 1 volcano active in the last 12,000 years in Iran.
- Damavand Stratovolcano · 5,670 m Last eruption 5350 BCE
Frequently asked questions
What tectonic plate is Iran on?
Iran spans 2 tectonic plates: the Eurasian Plate (97%) and the Arabian Plate (3.0%).
Is Iran on a plate boundary?
A plate boundary runs through or along Iran: the Arabian-Eurasian boundary (convergent, about 3.5 cm/yr).
Does Iran get earthquakes?
Iran has frequent large earthquakes: 31 of magnitude 6.5 or more struck in or just off the country since 1900 (rank 28 of 213). The largest was the M7.7 Near Iran in 2013.
Are there volcanoes in Iran?
The Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program lists 1 volcano active in the last 12,000 years in Iran.