The Niuafoou plate is a small

tectonic plate Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...

located west of the islands of

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

in the region of the

Lau Basin The Lau Basin is a back-arc basin (also addressed as "interarc basin") at the Australian-Pacific plate boundary. It is formed by the Pacific plate subducting under the Australian plate. The Tonga-Kermadec Ridge, a frontal arc, and the Lau-Colvill ...

. This plate is sandwiched between the Pacific plate to the north, the very unstable Tonga plate to the east and the

Australian plate The Australian plate is or was a major tectonic plate in the eastern and, largely, southern hemispheres. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, Australia remained connected to India and Antarctica until approximately when Indi ...

to the west. It is primarily surrounded by divergent boundaries. This plate is riddled with active faults thus making the area extremely earthquake prone.

References

* Tectonic plates Geology of the Pacific Ocean {{plate-tectonics-stub

See also

References