The Deep

In addition to being the one year anniversary of the American shutdown, it’s also the 10 year anniversary of the day when “a magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck off Japan’s northeastern shore—the most powerful earthquake ever recorded to have hit the country—generating enormous tsunami waves that spread across miles of shoreline, climbing as high as 130 feet. The fierce inundation of seawater tore apart coastal towns and villages, carrying ships inland as thousands of homes were flattened, then washed tons of debris and vehicles back out to sea.” My wife and I watched the wave come ashore on TV, and even from that distance, it is one of the most shocking things I’ve ever seen. InFocus Photos: 10 Years Since the Great East Japan Earthquake.

+ A 2011 piece from Michael Paterniti in GQ: The Man Who Sailed His House.