South-Eastern Asia
What tectonic plate is Thailand on?
Thailand spans 2 tectonic plates: the Sunda Plate (62%) and the Eurasian Plate (38%).
- Plates
- 2
- M6.5+ quakes since 1900
- 0
- Holocene volcanoes
- 0
- Land area
- 515,729 km²
Plates under Thailand
Share of Thailand's land area on each plate (PB2002 model, Natural Earth outlines).
Plate boundaries
5 plate boundaries run through or along Thailand: the Eurasian-Indian boundary (convergent, about 4.7 cm/yr), the Eurasian-Sunda boundary (convergent, about 2.6 cm/yr), the Burma-Eurasian boundary (convergent, about 5.0 cm/yr), the Burma-Indian boundary (convergent, about 2.5 cm/yr) and the Sunda-Burma boundary (divergent, about 4.3 cm/yr).
- Eurasian and Indian: convergent, 4.7 cm/yr
- Eurasian and Sunda: convergent, 2.6 cm/yr
- Burma and Eurasian: convergent, 5.0 cm/yr
- Burma and Indian: convergent, 2.5 cm/yr
- Sunda and Burma: divergent, 4.3 cm/yr
The fastest of these is the Burma-Eurasian boundary, where the plates move about 5.0 cm/yr relative to each other. That is faster than fingernails grow.
Earthquakes in Thailand
The USGS catalog has no earthquake of magnitude 6.5 or more centered in or just off Thailand since 1900. Smaller quakes still happen, and distant large ones can be felt.
Volcanoes in Thailand
Thailand 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 Thailand on?
Thailand spans 2 tectonic plates: the Sunda Plate (62%) and the Eurasian Plate (38%).
Is Thailand on a plate boundary?
5 plate boundaries run through or along Thailand: the Eurasian-Indian boundary (convergent, about 4.7 cm/yr), the Eurasian-Sunda boundary (convergent, about 2.6 cm/yr), the Burma-Eurasian boundary (convergent, about 5.0 cm/yr), the Burma-Indian boundary (convergent, about 2.5 cm/yr) and the Sunda-Burma boundary (divergent, about 4.3 cm/yr).
Does Thailand get earthquakes?
The USGS catalog has no earthquake of magnitude 6.5 or more centered in or just off Thailand since 1900. Smaller quakes still happen, and distant large ones can be felt.
Are there volcanoes in Thailand?
Thailand has no volcanoes that have erupted in the last 12,000 years, according to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.