Glowing Sea The Glowing Sea is a location , or more accurately , a map area containing several locations in the Commonwealth in " Fallout 4 " . Background . Originally the communities southwest of Boston proper , the area is now ground zero of a massive nuclear detonation during the Great War . The Glowing Sea itself is a dangerously irradiated hotspot , with above - average radiation levels throughout its territory . It is located where the southern freeway connected to Mass Pike Interchange ends . The area was where the atomic bomb struck in 2077 . It is not technically a " sea " but rather a large isolated patch of heavily irradiated landscape , ripped up and reshaped by the atomic blasts that carpeted the area . Much of the Glowing Sea consists of scorched earth spotted with radioactive ponds , charred trees , wrecked cars and heaps of rubble , with hardly any signs of previous civilization . What few buildings remain that weren ' t outright reduced to thinly - spread debris are half - buried by landslides and sinkholes caused by the bombs . Rain clouds that pass over the Glowing Sea become irradiated and spread radiation into other parts of the Commonwealth wasteland in the form of rad storms . Despite all these dangers and more , the Glowing Sea does harbor life , including humans . At the center of the Glowing Sea is a settlement known as the Crater of Atom , inhabited by humans from the Church of the Children of Atom . The sickly greenish - yellow glow emitting from the crater can be seen from far across the Commonwealth . Southwest of the Glowing Sea , outside the boundaries of the map , is also the rocky cave , inhabited by Virgil . Hazards . The Glowing Sea is extremely dangerous and should not be explored at a low level or without adequate supplies and protection . The entirety of the Glowing Sea is heavily irradiated , normally causing at least 10 + Rads a second in most areas ( 60 + when standing in water ) , killing unprotected players in less than two minutes . To survive , one should bring along an ample supply of RadAway and Rad - X to minimize exposure . Further protection can be achieved by wearing rad - resistant armor , such as power armor or a hazmat suit ( though the power armor gives better protection from enemy attacks ) . Completing the Cabot House quest line by siding with Lorenzo Cabot , grants unlimited Mysterious serum - that heals 10 Rads per second for an hour . More dangerous than the radiation is the local wildlife , as only the hardiest creatures can survive here : packs of deathclaws , radscorpions , and mutant insects such as bloatflies , bloodbug s and stingwing s roam the wastes attacking anything in their path . Useful resources ( food , chems , ammo , etc ) are scarce in the open wastes of the Glowing Sea , although the various ruins and wrecked vehicles scattered about the area contain modest amounts of loot . These ruins hold their own dangers , however ; namely in the form of large packs of feral ghouls and the occasional mole rat swarm . Notes . Radiation levels throughout most of the area are fairly easy to deal with , even without protective gear so long as the Sole Survivor uses RadAway and Rad - X , though the detonation site is lethal at all levels . Appearances . The Glowing Sea appears only in " Fallout 4 " .