Northern America
What tectonic plate is Greenland on?
Greenland sits entirely on the North American Plate.
- Plates
- 1
- M6.5+ quakes since 1900
- 0
- Holocene volcanoes
- 0
- Land area
- 2.15 million km²
Plates under Greenland
Share of Greenland's land area on each plate (PB2002 model, Natural Earth outlines).
Plate boundaries
A plate boundary runs through or along Greenland: the North American-Eurasian boundary (divergent, about 1.5 cm/yr).
- North American and Eurasian: divergent, 1.5 cm/yr
Earthquakes in Greenland
The USGS catalog has no earthquake of magnitude 6.5 or more centered in or just off Greenland since 1900. Smaller quakes still happen, and distant large ones can be felt.
Volcanoes in Greenland
Greenland 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 Greenland on?
Greenland sits entirely on the North American Plate.
Is Greenland on a plate boundary?
A plate boundary runs through or along Greenland: the North American-Eurasian boundary (divergent, about 1.5 cm/yr).
Does Greenland get earthquakes?
The USGS catalog has no earthquake of magnitude 6.5 or more centered in or just off Greenland since 1900. Smaller quakes still happen, and distant large ones can be felt.
Are there volcanoes in Greenland?
Greenland has no volcanoes that have erupted in the last 12,000 years, according to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.