Southern Asia
What tectonic plate is Bhutan on?
Bhutan spans 2 tectonic plates: the Eurasian Plate (86%) and the Indian Plate (14%).
- Plates
- 2
- M6.5+ quakes since 1900
- 0
- Holocene volcanoes
- 0
- Land area
- 39,877 km²
Plates under Bhutan
Share of Bhutan's land area on each plate (PB2002 model, Natural Earth outlines).
Plate boundaries
A plate boundary runs through or along Bhutan: the Eurasian-Indian boundary (convergent, about 4.7 cm/yr).
The fastest of these is the Eurasian-Indian boundary, where the plates move about 4.7 cm/yr relative to each other. That is faster than fingernails grow.
Earthquakes in Bhutan
The USGS catalog has no earthquake of magnitude 6.5 or more centered in or just off Bhutan since 1900. Smaller quakes still happen, and distant large ones can be felt.
Volcanoes in Bhutan
Bhutan 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 Bhutan on?
Bhutan spans 2 tectonic plates: the Eurasian Plate (86%) and the Indian Plate (14%).
Is Bhutan on a plate boundary?
A plate boundary runs through or along Bhutan: the Eurasian-Indian boundary (convergent, about 4.7 cm/yr).
Does Bhutan get earthquakes?
The USGS catalog has no earthquake of magnitude 6.5 or more centered in or just off Bhutan since 1900. Smaller quakes still happen, and distant large ones can be felt.
Are there volcanoes in Bhutan?
Bhutan has no volcanoes that have erupted in the last 12,000 years, according to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.