Dark purple sky over Los Angeles

 

The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami occurred at 14:46 JST on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, 72 km east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes, causing a tsunami.

Four days later, the radioactivity from the plant had reached California in the form of enormous purple clouds.