Volcanoes by country

Tonga

Volcanoes in Tonga

Map, activity and eruption history

The Holocene catalogue of the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program lists 21 volcanoes in Tonga. This page brings together the map, report status, eruption history and the surroundings of every single volcano. None of them currently has a running eruption report.

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Earthquakes · Tonga
With a current report
None No current eruption report
Volcanoes in the catalogue
21
Documented eruptions
71
Highest volcano
1,009 mKao
Last documented eruption
2026Tofua

Map

Volcano map of Tonga

Every volcano in the country with plate boundaries, air traffic within 50 km, airports and nuclear power plants. Earthquakes can be added on top.

Map layers

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Markers show the catalogue position of a volcano, not the extent of a hazard zone. Plate boundaries after Bird (2003), PB2002.

All volcanoes in Tonga

Sorted by report status and elevation. Every entry opens the full volcano profile.

Volcano catalogue
  1. Kao No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    1,009 m
    Last eruption
    1847
    Eruptions
    1
  2. Tafahi No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    546 m
    Last eruption
    Not available
    Eruptions
    —
  3. Late No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    540 m
    Last eruption
    1854
    Eruptions
    2
  4. Tofua No current eruption report
    Type
    Caldera
    Elevation
    515 m
    Last eruption
    2026
    Eruptions
    8
  5. Niuafo'ou No current eruption report
    Type
    Shield volcano
    Elevation
    260 m
    Last eruption
    1946
    Eruptions
    8
  6. Fonualei No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    188 m
    Last eruption
    1957
    Eruptions
    8
  7. Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai No current eruption report
    Type
    Caldera
    Elevation
    114 m
    Last eruption
    2022
    Eruptions
    7
  8. Lateiki No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    43 m
    Last eruption
    2019
    Eruptions
    8
  9. Home Reef No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -10 m
    Last eruption
    2026
    Eruptions
    8
  10. Fonuafo'ou No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -17 m
    Last eruption
    1936
    Eruptions
    8
  11. Curacoa No current eruption report
    Type
    Volcanic complex
    Elevation
    -33 m
    Last eruption
    1979
    Eruptions
    2
  12. Tofua Arc at 18.3°S No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -40 m
    Last eruption
    2019
    Eruptions
    2
  13. Tofua Arc at 21.1°S No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -65 m
    Last eruption
    Not available
    Eruptions
    —
  14. Tofua Arc at 21.3°S No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -68 m
    Last eruption
    1932
    Eruptions
    2
  15. Tofua Arc at 20.9°S No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -296 m
    Last eruption
    2017
    Eruptions
    5
  16. Kermadec Arc at 24.8°S No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -385 m
    Last eruption
    Not available
    Eruptions
    —
  17. Dugong No current eruption report
    Type
    Shield volcano
    Elevation
    -1,170 m
    Last eruption
    Not available
    Eruptions
    —
  18. West Mata No current eruption report
    Type
    Fissure vent
    Elevation
    -1,174 m
    Last eruption
    2009
    Eruptions
    1
  19. Niuatahi No current eruption report
    Type
    Caldera
    Elevation
    -1,270 m
    Last eruption
    Not available
    Eruptions
    —
  20. Tafu-Maka No current eruption report
    Type
    Fissure vent
    Elevation
    -1,400 m
    Last eruption
    2008
    Eruptions
    1

“Last eruption” is a catalogue record, not evidence of activity in progress.

Significant volcanic eruptions in Tonga

Eruptions with fatalities, damage or high explosivity from the NOAA NCEI database of significant volcanic eruptions.

  1. 1853 Niuafo'ou VEI 0 25 Deaths
  2. 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai VEI 6 6 Deaths Damage: 135 million USD 284 houses destroyed Tsunami
  3. 1886 Niuafo'ou VEI 4 Deaths: few (roughly 1–50)
  4. 1892 Tofua VEI 2 Tsunami
  5. 1907 Tofua Arc at 21.3°S VEI 0 Tsunami

Explosivity of the documented eruptions

VEI · 66

VEI 0
17
VEI 1
7
VEI 2
36
VEI 3
4
VEI 4
1
VEI 5
1
VEI 6
0

The Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) runs from 0 (effusive) to 8 (super-eruptive). Each step stands for roughly ten times the erupted mass.

Eruptions per century

1700–1799
3
1800–1899
14
1900–1999
36
2000–2099
17

Documented eruptions since 1500. Earlier centuries are recorded less completely, so a rise also reflects better observation.

Earthquakes near volcanoes – Tonga

2 events in the last 30 days within 50 km of a volcano in Tonga.

Earthquakes · Tonga

Spatial proximity does not establish a volcanic origin. Many events in volcanic regions are tectonic.

Tectonic setting and volcano types

What the volcanic landscape of Tonga is made of and which tectonic setting it sits in.

Tectonic setting

  • Subduction zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)18
  • Rift zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)1

Most common volcano types

  • Stratovolcano12
  • Caldera3
  • Shield volcano3
  • Fissure vent2
  • Volcanic complex1

Infrastructure within 100 km

Airports with scheduled service and nuclear power plant sites near a volcano in Tonga.

Airports 5

  • Kuini Lavenia Airport14.5 km · NTT
  • Vava'u International Airport51.4 km · VAV
  • Fua'amotu International Airport53.0 km · TBU
  • Lifuka Island Airport71.7 km · HPA
  • Kaufana Airport71.8 km · EUA

Nuclear power plants 0

No site from the included datasets lies within this radius.

This selection shows geographic proximity, not a hazard zone or confirmed impacts.

Volcanoes in profile – Tonga

Short descriptions of the country's best-known volcanoes.

Kao

Stratovolcano · 1,009 m · Last eruption: 1847

Kao is an island and stratovolcano in the Haʻapai island group of Tonga. It lies about 6 km (3.7 mi) north of Tofua island and reaches 1,030 m (3,379 ft) above sea level, the highest point in Tonga.

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Tafahi

Stratovolcano · 546 m · Last eruption: Not available

Tafahi is a small island in the north of the Tonga archipelago, in fact closer to Savaiʻi (Samoa) than to the main islands of Tonga. It is only 9 km (5.6 mi) north-northeast away from Niuatoputapu, and fishermen commute in small outboard motorboats almost daily between the two. The island has a population of 14.

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Late

Stratovolcano · 540 m · Last eruption: 1854

Late Island is an uninhabited volcanic island southwest of Vavaʻu in the kingdom of Tonga.

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Tofua

Caldera · 515 m · Last eruption: 2026

Tofua is a volcanic island in Tonga. Located in the Haʻapai island group, it is a steep-sided composite cone with a summit caldera. It is part of the highly active Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone and its associated volcanic arc, which extends from New Zealand north-northeast to Fiji, and is formed by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Indo-Australian Plate. It lies about 100 km (62 mi) above a very active seismic zone. It is connected to the nearby island of Kao by a submarine ridge. As of August 2025, the cone contains a lava lake.

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Niuafo'ou

Shield volcano · 260 m · Last eruption: 1946

Niuafoʻou is the northernmost island in the kingdom of Tonga. One of the Niua Islands, it is located in the southern Pacific Ocean between Fiji and Samoa, 574 km (357 mi) north of Tongatapu island group and 337 km (209 mi) northwest of Vavaʻu. It is a volcanic rim island with an area of 15 km2 (5.8 sq mi) and a population of 431. The volcano is active and has erupted regularly since 1814, with its last major eruption in 1985.

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Fonualei

Stratovolcano · 188 m · Last eruption: 1957

Fonualei is an uninhabited volcanic island in the kingdom of Tonga. It 70 km northwest of Vavaʻu and is part of the highly active Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone and its associated volcanic arc, which extends from New Zealand north-northeast to Fiji, and is formed by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Indo-Australian Plate. The closest island to Fonualei is Tokū 19.7 km to the southeast.

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Short descriptions: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Frequently asked questions about volcanoes in Tonga

How many volcanoes are there in Tonga?
The Holocene catalogue of the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program lists 21 volcanoes in Tonga. It covers volcanoes with eruptions during the last roughly 12,000 years.
Which volcano in Tonga is the highest?
The highest recorded volcano is Kao at 1,009 m.
When was the last documented eruption in Tonga?
The most recent eruption documented in the catalogue dates from 2026 (Tofua).
Are the volcanoes in Tonga active?
None of the 21 volcanoes currently has an eruption report. That does not mean they are extinct – source coverage differs from volcano to volcano.
Why does the map show aircraft around volcanoes?
Volcanic ash endangers aircraft engines. The map therefore shows live positions within 50 km of a volcano so that the proximity of air traffic to an active volcano becomes visible.
Where does the data on this page come from?
Catalogue data and eruption history from the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program, significant eruptions from NOAA NCEI, alert levels and bulletins from USGS, GeoNet and INGV, earthquakes from the QuakeMap24 database, flight positions from ADSB.lol.

Volcanoes in other countries

Countries with at least 5 volcanoes in the catalogue.

All countries with volcanoes

Sources and data dates

Everything shown comes from the public sources listed below and is updated automatically.

QuakeMap24 is not a warning authority. Follow the responsible authorities when making local decisions.