The boundary between the Pacific and Australian plates passes through New Zealand. The Pacific Plate is moving towards the Australian Plate at a rate of about 40 millimetres a year. The deformed zone, close to the plate boundary, is where most earthquakes and uplift take place.
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Source: Ray Wood and others, New Zealand’s continental shelf and UNCLOS Article 76. Lower Hutt: Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences; Wellington: National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, 2003
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