The creation of the Karakoram fault started with the closing of the ancient Tethys ocean seaway which once separated the two modern continents of Asia and India. The Karakoram fault itself does not trace a plate boundary, except for where it possibly ends in the Indus-Yalu Suture Zone. The original thrusting occurred by linking existing thrust faults in what is now the Pamir Mountains starting between 17 and 20 million years ago.