Top 10 Volcanoes in Pakistan
Pakistan is not a country that springs to mind when volcanoes are mentioned, yet Balochistan province contains some of the most geologically instructive volcanic features anywhere in Asia. The province sits atop the boundary where the Arabian Plate grinds beneath the Eurasian Plate, a collision that built the Makran accretionary prism, generated the 1945 Makran tsunami, and created a field of mud volcanoes so active that they erupt almost continuously. Further inland, ancient basalt flows and thermally altered landscapes speak of a more fiery past.
The Arabian–Eurasian Collision Zone
The tectonic context of Pakistan's volcanic features is essential to understanding them. The Arabian Plate converges on Eurasia at roughly 40 mm per year in this sector, compressing marine sediments into the Makran fold-and-thrust belt. As sediments are squeezed under pressure, water and gas migrate upward through fractures, mixing with fine-grained clay to produce the buoyant slurry that feeds mud volcanoes. The process is not driven by hot magma in the traditional sense but by deep-seated overpressured fluids — making Balochistan's mud volcanoes a category of volcanic phenomenon distinct from lava-producing systems.
Chandragup 1, 2, and 3
The Chandragup group near Hingol National Park on the Makran coast is the most famous volcanic site in Pakistan. The three cones — Chandragup 1, Chandragup 2, and Chandragup 3 — rise between 20 m and 50 m above the surrounding plain, built entirely from grey mud and fine sand ejected over centuries. The largest, Chandragup 1, emits flames fed by escaping methane, and the site is considered sacred by Hindus who associate the eternal flame with Shiva; a pilgrimage route connects the cones to the Hinglaj Mata temple several kilometres to the east. An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 pilgrims walk the route annually during the Hinglaj Yatra festival in March and April.
Koh-e-Hanif
Koh-e-Hanif is a large mud volcano complex near Ormara, less accessible than Chandragup but geologically significant for the variety of expelled material it shows. Mud flows from Koh-e-Hanif have on occasion reached the sea during periods of intense activity. The name — meaning approximately "mountain of Hanif" in Urdu and Balochi — reflects centuries of local recognition of this unusual landform. Activity fluctuates seasonally, with the monsoon providing additional groundwater that intensifies eruptions.
Koh-i-Sultan
Koh-i-Sultan, located in western Balochistan near the border with Iran and Afghanistan, is a very different volcanic feature: a potentially active volcanic centre associated with hydrothermal alteration rather than mud volcanism. The peak rises to approximately 2,370 m and is surrounded by sulphur deposits, fumarolic vents, and thermally coloured soil that range from orange to vivid yellow. Koh-i-Sultan is related to the broader Chagai volcanic arc, a line of calc-alkaline volcanic centres formed above the subducting Arabian slab. Sulphur has been mined here since at least the 19th century.
Jebel e Ghurab and Sangal
Jebel e Ghurab and Sangal represent more subdued expressions of volcanic activity in Balochistan — remnant features of older lava fields now largely eroded and buried by sediment. The basalt flows associated with these features date to the Eocene and Oligocene epochs, tens of millions of years before the Chandragup mud volcanoes began forming. They serve as geological markers of the long history of tectonic violence underlying the region's relatively quiet present surface.
The 1945 Makran Earthquake Connection
On 27 November 1945, a magnitude-8.1 earthquake ruptured the Makran subduction zone, generating a tsunami that killed at least 4,000 people along the coasts of Pakistan, Iran, Oman, and India. The earthquake also triggered the sudden emergence of a new mud volcano island — Zalzala Koh — off the coast near Ormara. Similar islands had appeared after 19th-century earthquakes in the same area and typically erode within months or a few years. The 2013 Awaran earthquake similarly pushed a new mud island, roughly 15–20 m high, out of the sea near Gwadar.
Visiting Hingol National Park
Hingol National Park encompasses 6,100 km² and contains not only the Chandragup volcanoes but also the Kund Malir beach, the Makran Coastal Highway, and some of the most dramatic desert scenery in South Asia. The park was established in 1988 and is managed jointly by the Balochistan Wildlife Department. Entry requires no special permit for Pakistani nationals; foreign visitors should check current requirements with the Department of Tourism and consult their embassy on security conditions before travel.
Safety and Access
The Makran Coastal Highway (N10) connects Karachi to Gwadar and passes near Chandragup; the drive from Karachi takes five to six hours. The best visiting season is October through March, when temperatures stay below 35°C. During summer, coastal Balochistan can reach 48°C. The pilgrimage season in March–April brings high traffic to Chandragup but also improves temporary facilities. Mud volcano activity is generally safe to observe from a distance of 30–50 m; the cones can collapse without warning and the expelled mud can reach 70°C.
Explore on the map
Pakistan's volcanic landscape rewards patient exploration — these are not the classic photogenic stratovolcanoes but geological marvels shaped by plate tectonics on a grand scale. Use the interactive map to locate Chandragup 1, 2, and 3, Koh-e-Hanif, Koh-i-Sultan, and the other volcanic features of Balochistan. Filter by volcano type to compare mud volcanoes with the deeper magmatic systems of western Pakistan. See Pakistan on the map for a full geographic overview.