Tonga plate

The plate is an elongated plate oriented NNE–SSW and is a northward continuation of the Kermadec linear zone north of New Zealand.

This subduction turns into a transform fault boundary north of Tonga.

An active rift or spreading center separates the Tonga plate from the Australian plate and the Niuafo’ou microplate to the west.

The Tonga plate is seismically very active and is rotating clockwise.

These were the plates that moved when the 2009 tsunami hit Samoa.