Southern Asia

What tectonic plate is Sri Lanka on?

Sri Lanka sits entirely on the Indian Plate.

Plates
1
M6.5+ quakes since 1900
0
Holocene volcanoes
0
Land area
66,043 km²
Map of Sri Lanka with the tectonic plate boundaries around it Open on interactive map

Plates under Sri Lanka

Share of Sri Lanka's land area on each plate (PB2002 model, Natural Earth outlines).

  1. Indian Plate 100%

Plate boundaries

No plate boundary crosses Sri Lanka itself, so it sits in the stable interior of the Indian Plate.

How convergent, divergent and transform boundaries work

Earthquakes in Sri Lanka

The USGS catalog has no earthquake of magnitude 6.5 or more centered in or just off Sri Lanka since 1900. Smaller quakes still happen, and distant large ones can be felt.

See today's earthquakes on the live map

Volcanoes in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka 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 Sri Lanka on?

Sri Lanka sits entirely on the Indian Plate.

Is Sri Lanka on a plate boundary?

No plate boundary crosses Sri Lanka itself, so it sits in the stable interior of the Indian Plate.

Does Sri Lanka get earthquakes?

The USGS catalog has no earthquake of magnitude 6.5 or more centered in or just off Sri Lanka since 1900. Smaller quakes still happen, and distant large ones can be felt.

Are there volcanoes in Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka has no volcanoes that have erupted in the last 12,000 years, according to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.

Other countries on the Indian Plate