Western Asia
What tectonic plate is Iraq on?
Iraq spans 2 tectonic plates: the Arabian Plate (94%) and the Eurasian Plate (6.3%).
- Plates
- 2
- M6.5+ quakes since 1900
- 0
- Holocene volcanoes
- 0
- Land area
- 437,457 km²
Plates under Iraq
Share of Iraq's land area on each plate (PB2002 model, Natural Earth outlines).
Plate boundaries
2 plate boundaries run through or along Iraq: the Arabian-Eurasian boundary (convergent, about 3.5 cm/yr) and the Anatolian-Arabian boundary (convergent, about 1.6 cm/yr).
The fastest of these is the Arabian-Eurasian boundary, where the plates move about 3.5 cm/yr relative to each other. That is faster than fingernails grow.
Earthquakes in Iraq
The USGS catalog has no earthquake of magnitude 6.5 or more centered in or just off Iraq since 1900. Smaller quakes still happen, and distant large ones can be felt.
Volcanoes in Iraq
Iraq 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 Iraq on?
Iraq spans 2 tectonic plates: the Arabian Plate (94%) and the Eurasian Plate (6.3%).
Is Iraq on a plate boundary?
2 plate boundaries run through or along Iraq: the Arabian-Eurasian boundary (convergent, about 3.5 cm/yr) and the Anatolian-Arabian boundary (convergent, about 1.6 cm/yr).
Does Iraq get earthquakes?
The USGS catalog has no earthquake of magnitude 6.5 or more centered in or just off Iraq since 1900. Smaller quakes still happen, and distant large ones can be felt.
Are there volcanoes in Iraq?
Iraq has no volcanoes that have erupted in the last 12,000 years, according to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.