Ahu Tongariki is a great stone platform on the southern coast of Rapa Nui, at the island's eastern end. It stands in the Hotu-iti area of Rapa Nui National Park, about 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) from the volcanoes Rano Raraku and Poike. It was the main center and capital of the Hotu-iti clan, the eastern confederation of the Rapa Nui people.
Fifteen moai stand on the restored platform. The heaviest weighs 86 tonnes and is the heaviest ever erected on the island. All of them face the sunset on the winter solstice.
The moai were toppled during the island's civil wars. In 1960 a tsunami, caused by an earthquake off Chile, swept the platform inland. A five-year restoration in the 1990s was led by the archaeologists Claudio Cristino and Patricia Vargas Casanova. It followed an agreement among the Chilean government, the University of Chile and the Japanese crane maker Tadano.
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