Mini-landslide rattles nerves in Rancho Palos Verdes

"Residents in Rancho Palos Verdes got that old, familiar sinking feeling on Saturday night, when a sizable chunk of a coastal bluff dropped about 50 to 60 feet, according to Los Angeles County Fire officials. Nobody got hurt and no houses were damaged, , but "significant soil movement has resulted in damage to several backyards," officials wrote. The mini-landslide happened at about 8:20 p.m. along a coastal bluff off Marguerite Drive near Palos Verdes Drive West, according to the city."

"Approximately 300-400 feet of the bluff "sloughed off" toward the coast, officials said. That's more than enough to set nerves on edge in the exclusive coastal enclave, where hundreds of homes sit perched on hillsides with breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island, which sits about 25 miles offshore. But those multimillion-dollar views come with a problem no amount of money can fix: The homes are built on some of the shiftiest and most unreliable soil in California."

"Landslides have been occurring on the peninsula for thousands of years, the geological record shows. In the modern era, a large and seemingly continuous slide that began in the Portuguese Bend neighborhood in 1956 has destroyed hundreds of homes. Slide activity has picked up noticeably since 2023, damaging roads, forcing officials to cut off utilities and "red tag" at least 20 houses, meaning nobody can occupy them until the threat is addressed."

On Saturday night a sizable chunk of a coastal bluff in Rancho Palos Verdes dropped about 50 to 60 feet, with approximately 300–400 feet of the bluff sloughing off toward the coast. No injuries or house damage were reported, but significant soil movement damaged several backyards. The collapse occurred along a coastal bluff off Marguerite Drive near Palos Verdes Drive West at about 8:20 p.m. The peninsula sits atop unstable, shifting soils, and landslides have occurred there for thousands of years. A continuous slide that began in Portuguese Bend in 1956 destroyed hundreds of homes. Slide activity increased noticeably since 2023, damaging roads, cutting utilities, and causing at least 20 houses to be red-tagged.

Read at Los Angeles Times