Excerpt:
Rancho Palos Verdes officials say 400 feet of coastal bluff that fell toward the ocean on Saturday night is not related to the land movement that’s been ripping part of the city apart for years…
The bluff dropped approximately 60 feet toward the ocean. But Megan Barnes, a spokesperson for the city, told LAist there was no damage to public property, no injuries and no structural damage to the four homes affected. There is significant soil damage to their backyards, though.
The cause of the incident on Marguerite Drive is still being investigated, she added.
City Manager Ara Mihranian said that while there are no public sanctioned or approved trails leading down to the shoreline from that bluff top, there is an unauthorized trail that leads fishermen down to that area. The L.A. County Fire Department has closed off the area out of an abundance of caution.
According to Barnes, this landslide is not connected to the larger Portuguese Bend landslide around 4 miles away.
“It is totally separate, not connected,” she said.
What’s next?
The new landslide is being treated as “static” movement, Barnes said, but the city’s geology team will continue to monitor for movement.
The landslide is being treated as an “isolated separate incident” and the city is not seeking an emergency declaration as it has in the past, she said.
Mayor David Bradley told LAist, ”We’re recommending that the homeowners go get a geotechnical engineer to assess their backyards and their property to assure that there’s not gonna be any other movement…”
