A wealthy enclave in Southern California that has been threatened for years by worsening landslides faced more land movement this week but suffered minimal damage.
Four backyards in Rancho Palos Verdes were damaged Saturday evening by significant soil movement from the sinking land, but there was no structural damage to homes and no injuries were reported, according to a news update on the city’s website. No homes were tagged.
About 300 to 400 linear feet (91 to 122 meters) of a coastal slope sloughed off, falling about 50 to 60 feet (15 to 18 meters) toward the ocean, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The movement’s cause is still under investigation.
The public is being advised to avoid the shoreline where the movement occurred out of an abundance of caution.
City officials said the event was unrelated to the continual land movement known as the Portuguese Bend Landslide Complex, about 4 miles (6 kilometers) southeast, that has wreaked havoc on scores of multimillion-dollar homes perched over the Pacific Ocean.
About 70 years ago, the Portuguese Bend landslide in Rancho Palos Verdes was triggered with the construction of a road through the area, which sits atop an ancient landslide. It destroyed 140 homes at the time, and the land has moved ever since.
More homes have collapsed or been torn apart since. Evacuation warnings have been issued, and swaths of the community have had their power and gas turned off. The once slow-moving landslides began to rapidly accelerate after several years of torrential rains in Southern California. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for the area.
The city is urging the governor to sign into a law a bill that would expand California’s definition of emergencies to include landslides and events made worse by climate change.
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