photo via AP/Kyodo News
When the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11, 2011, an entire forest in the Iwate Prefecture was obliterated by the tsunami. Of the 70,000 trees, just one remained: the so-called “Miracle Pine.” The lone pine tree lived for 18 months after the disaster before it died due to saline soil conditions caused by the tsunami. Over the course of its 173 year life span it had survived three major tsunamis (1896, 1933, 2011). When the tree died it was cut down and sectioned for preservation. It has since been rebuilt as a monument. The trunk was hollowed out and reinforced with a carbon spine. The branches and leaves at the top of the tree were replicated in plastic. Two years after the disaster, the Miracle Pine now stands as a lasting monument.
photo by Per-Anders Pettersson/Corbis