Tectonic plates: the map of the boundaries
Earth’s rigid outer shell is split into about fifteen large plates that move a few centimetres a year. Almost every earthquake happens along their edges.
Explainer page. The earthquake data comes from the USGS catalogue.
Name
| Name | Mkm² | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific | 103.3 | convergente |
| North American | 75.9 | misto |
| Eurasian | 67.8 | convergente |
| African | 61.3 | divergente |
| Antarctic | 60.9 | divergente |
| Indo-Australian | 58.9 | convergente |
| South American | 43.6 | convergente |
| Nazca | 15.6 | convergente |
| Philippine Sea | 5.4 | convergente |
| Arabian | 5.0 | convergente |
| Caribbean | 3.3 | convergente |
| Cocos | 2.9 | convergente |
| Juan de Fuca | 0.3 | convergente |
Magnitude ≥ 5
| Magnitude | Place | When | Depth | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.2 | 107 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga | 10/15/26, 1:29 PM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.2 | 157 km W of Sola, Vanuatu | 10/15/26, 1:06 PM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.6 | 43 km NNW of Lake Minchumina, Alaska | 10/15/26, 11:07 AM UTC | 5 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.3 | 43 km SSE of Otorohanga, New Zealand | 10/15/26, 5:25 AM UTC | 286 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.1 | 36 km E of Safotu, Samoa | 10/15/26, 3:36 AM UTC | 13 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.9 | Fiji region | 10/14/26, 10:49 AM UTC | 585 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.0 | 98 km NW of Coquimbo, Chile | 10/14/26, 12:36 AM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.1 | 93 km NNW of Coquimbo, Chile | 10/14/26, 12:30 AM UTC | 22 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 6.0 | 126 km S of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea | 10/13/26, 6:45 PM UTC | 21 km | Strong (6 to 6.9) |
| 5.1 | 123 km S of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea | 10/13/26, 4:28 PM UTC | 37 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.3 | 129 km S of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea | 10/13/26, 2:36 PM UTC | 30 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 6.8 | central Mid-Atlantic Ridge | 10/13/26, 12:23 PM UTC | 10 km | Strong (6 to 6.9) |
| 5.3 | southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge | 10/13/26, 8:38 AM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 6.7 | central Mid-Atlantic Ridge | 10/13/26, 5:44 AM UTC | 10 km | Strong (6 to 6.9) |
| 5.1 | 119 km SSW of Gambiran Satu, Indonesia | 10/13/26, 4:00 AM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 6.1 | 17 km W of Río Grande, Panama | 10/12/26, 11:20 PM UTC | 11 km | Strong (6 to 6.9) |
| 5.4 | Mid-Indian Ridge | 10/12/26, 11:28 AM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.5 | 122 km W of Neiafu, Tonga | 10/12/26, 4:38 AM UTC | 195 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.2 | 152 km W of Gorontalo, Indonesia | 10/11/26, 9:34 PM UTC | 111 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.2 | 101 km SSW of Severo-Kuril’sk, Russia | 10/11/26, 5:00 PM UTC | 83 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 6.2 | 79 km SSE of Panguna, Papua New Guinea | 10/11/26, 2:07 PM UTC | 53 km | Strong (6 to 6.9) |
| 5.2 | 18 km SSE of Camaná, Peru | 10/11/26, 1:42 PM UTC | 45 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.2 | 180 km S of Pelabuhanratu, Indonesia | 10/11/26, 3:30 AM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.0 | 3 km NW of Flores, Panama | 10/11/26, 1:50 AM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.3 | southeast of Easter Island | 10/10/26, 9:34 PM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
Data from 10/15/26, 5:45 PM UTC
- U.S. Geological Survey — Earthquake Hazards ProgramLicence: Domínio público (U.S. Public Domain) · Credit: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
How to read these numbers
There are three kinds of boundary. At a divergent boundary the plates pull apart and new material rises, as along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. At a convergent boundary one plate dives under the other, building a trench, a mountain range and the largest earthquakes on the planet. At a transform boundary the plates slide past each other, as along the San Andreas fault.
Typical speeds are 2 to 10 centimetres a year, measured today with GPS. It sounds slow, but over a million years that is tens of kilometres, enough to open an ocean.
Frequently asked questions
- How many plates are there?
- Seven or eight major plates plus more than a dozen minor ones, depending on the criterion. The big ones are Pacific, North American, South American, African, Eurasian, Indo-Australian and Antarctic.
- Why do some countries have almost no earthquakes?
- Because they sit in the interior of a plate, far from the edges. Intraplate quakes do happen, along ancient faults, but they are rare and usually weak.
- Will the continents join again?
- Extrapolating today’s motion gives a supercontinent in about 250 million years. That is an extrapolation, not a forecast.