Northern Africa
What tectonic plate is Western Sahara on?
Western Sahara sits entirely on the African Plate.
- Plates
- 1
- M6.5+ quakes since 1900
- 0
- Holocene volcanoes
- 0
- Land area
- 90,794 km²
Plates under Western Sahara
Share of Western Sahara's land area on each plate (PB2002 model, Natural Earth outlines).
Plate boundaries
No plate boundary crosses Western Sahara itself, so it sits in the stable interior of the African Plate.
Earthquakes in Western Sahara
The USGS catalog has no earthquake of magnitude 6.5 or more centered in or just off Western Sahara since 1900. Smaller quakes still happen, and distant large ones can be felt.
Volcanoes in Western Sahara
Western Sahara 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 Western Sahara on?
Western Sahara sits entirely on the African Plate.
Is Western Sahara on a plate boundary?
No plate boundary crosses Western Sahara itself, so it sits in the stable interior of the African Plate.
Does Western Sahara get earthquakes?
The USGS catalog has no earthquake of magnitude 6.5 or more centered in or just off Western Sahara since 1900. Smaller quakes still happen, and distant large ones can be felt.
Are there volcanoes in Western Sahara?
Western Sahara has no volcanoes that have erupted in the last 12,000 years, according to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.