ahu tongariki

THE watchers on the coast

The largest ahu (moai platform) on Easter Island is Ahu Tongariki, which can be found down the slopes of Rano Raraku on the southern coast.  It is 220 meters long and has 15 moai which tower above you as you stand on the ground in front of the ahu.  In 1960, a huge tsunami hit Easter Island, scattering the moai at this location and doing significant damage.  However, in the 1990s, Ahu Tongariki was carefully restored by a team of archeologists, thanks to funding from the government of Japan, and today all of the moai have been put back in their original standing positions.