Choose a region
Japan, Iceland, California and East Africa highlight different settings: subduction, spreading, fault systems and continental rifting. Start with the process or location you want to understand.
BOUNDARIES
Loading the atlas...
Plate colours identify regions, not risk.
Explore this map collection
Japan Tectonic Plates Map
Explore map ↗
Iceland Tectonic Plates Map
Explore map ↗
California Fault Lines Map
Explore map ↗
East African Rift Map
Explore map ↗
New Zealand Tectonic Plates Map
Explore map ↗
Indonesia Tectonic Plates Map
Explore map ↗
Europe Tectonic Plates Map
Explore map ↗
Himalayas Tectonic Plates Map
Explore map ↗Compare regional boundaries
New Zealand changes boundary style along its length, while the Himalayas show continental collision. Regional comparisons reveal details that become compressed on a global map.
Available map layers
Plate outlines, fault traces, earthquake points and volcano locations answer different questions. Check the legend and source coverage before treating two layers as equivalent.
Sources and map method
Plate outlines use Peter Bird's PB2002 model, distributed by Nordpil under the Open Data Commons Attribution licence. Coastlines and country outlines are Natural Earth public-domain data. Boundary detail is limited by the source model.
- USGS: This Dynamic Planet
- GNS Science: Geology and plate boundary of New Zealand
- USGS: Himalaya and vicinity, version 1.1 (2014)
- Map dataset sources and licences
- PB2002 geometry and licence
- Natural Earth terms
Country lookup compares simplified land outlines with the plate model. Boundaries and historical coastlines are modelled features. This atlas explains geography; it does not predict earthquakes or provide site-specific hazard estimates.