Northern Africa
What tectonic plate is Egypt on?
Egypt sits almost entirely on the African Plate (99.9% of its land), with small fringes on the Arabian Plate.
- Plates
- 2
- M6.5+ quakes since 1900
- 2
- Holocene volcanoes
- 0
- Land area
- 1.00 million km²
Plates under Egypt
Share of Egypt's land area on each plate (PB2002 model, Natural Earth outlines).
Plate boundaries
A plate boundary runs through or along Egypt: the Arabian-African boundary (divergent, about 1.4 cm/yr).
Earthquakes in Egypt
Large earthquakes are uncommon in Egypt. Since 1900 the USGS has recorded 2 of magnitude 6.5 or more in or just off the country.
| Earthquake | Magnitude | Year | Depth | Plate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 km SSE of Nuwaybi‘a, Egypt | M7.2 | 1995 | 10 km | Arabian |
| 29 km NE of El Gouna, Egypt | M6.6 | 1969 | 10 km | African |
Volcanoes in Egypt
Egypt 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 Egypt on?
Egypt sits almost entirely on the African Plate (99.9% of its land), with small fringes on the Arabian Plate.
Is Egypt on a plate boundary?
A plate boundary runs through or along Egypt: the Arabian-African boundary (divergent, about 1.4 cm/yr).
Does Egypt get earthquakes?
Large earthquakes are uncommon in Egypt. Since 1900 the USGS has recorded 2 of magnitude 6.5 or more in or just off the country. The largest was the M7.2 27 km SSE of Nuwaybi‘a, Egypt in 1995.
Are there volcanoes in Egypt?
Egypt has no volcanoes that have erupted in the last 12,000 years, according to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.