View source for Tonga plate

{{Short description|Small tectonic plate in the southwest Pacific Ocean}}
[[Image:Niuafo'ou Plate map-fr.png|thumb|right|375x375px|Map of the Tonga plate and its neighbouring plates (in [[French language|French]])]]
The '''Tonga plate''' is a small southwest Pacific [[list of tectonic plates|tectonic plate]] or microplate. It is centered at approximately 19° S. latitude and 173° E. longitude. The plate is an elongated plate oriented NNE–SSW and is a northward continuation of the Kermadec linear zone north of New Zealand. The plate is bounded on the east and north by the [[Pacific plate]], on the northwest by the [[Niuafo'ou plate|Niuafo’ou microplate]], on the west and south by the [[Indo-Australian plate]]. The Tonga plate is subducting the Pacific plate along the [[Tonga Trench]]. 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 Samoa earthquake and tsunami|2009 tsunami]] hit Samoa.

==See also==
* {{annotated link|Tonga–Kermadec Ridge}}

==References==
*Bird, P., An updated digital model of plate boundaries, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 4(3), 1027, {{doi|10.1029/2001GC000252}}, 2003.

{{Tectonic plates}}

[[Category:Tectonic plates]]
[[Category:Natural history of Oceania]]
[[Category:Geology of the Pacific Ocean]]


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