Editing Geography of Japan (section)

=== Median Tectonic Line ===
[[Image:Tectonic map of southwest Japan.png|thumb|upright=1.3|left|The red line represents the Median Tectonic Line. The orange-shaded region is Fossa Magna, bounded by the [[Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line]] (western blue line).]]
The [[Japan Median Tectonic Line]] (MTL) is Japan's longest [[Fault (geology)|fault]] system.<ref name="d">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Dijitaru Daijisen |title=中央構造線 |url=http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |access-date=2012-09-21 |year=2012 |publisher=Shogakukan |location=Tokyo |language=ja |trans-title=Japan Median Tectonic Line (MTL) |oclc=56431036 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |archive-date=2007-08-25}}</ref><ref name="n">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Nihon Daihyakka Zensho (Nipponika) |title=中央構造線 |url=http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |access-date=2012-09-21 |year=2012 |publisher=Shogakukan |location=Tokyo |language=ja |trans-title=Japan Median Tectonic Line |oclc=153301537 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |archive-date=2007-08-25}}</ref> The MTL begins near [[Ibaraki Prefecture]], where it connects with the [[Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line]] (ISTL) and the Fossa Magna. It runs parallel to Japan's volcanic arc, passing through central Honshū to near [[Nagoya]], through [[Mikawa Bay]], then through the Seto Inland Sea from the [[Kii Channel]] and [[Naruto Strait]] to Shikoku along the [[Sadamisaki Peninsula]] and the [[Bungo Channel]] and [[Hōyo Strait]] to Kyūshū.<ref name="n" />

The MTL moves right-lateral strike-slip at about 5–10 millimeters per year.<ref>Okada, A., On the Quaternary faulting along the Median Tectonic Line, in ''Median Tectonic Line'' (in Japanese with English abstract), edited by R. Sugiyama, pp. 49–86, Tokai University Press, Tokyo, 1973.</ref> The sense of motion is consistent with the direction of the [[Nankai Trough]]'s oblique convergence. The rate of motion on the MTL is much less than the rate of convergence at the [[Nankai Trough|plate boundary]]. This makes it difficult to distinguish the motion on the MTL from interseismic elastic straining in GPS data.<ref>Miyazaki, S. and Heki, K. (2001) Crustal velocity field of southwest Japan: Subduction and arc-arc collision, ''Journal of Geophysical Research'',vo. 106, no. B3.</ref>