Parts of this neighborhood on a peninsula in Southern Cal have been sliding at a rate of a foot per week. The beach below it has moved 500 feet out into the ocean.

Another neighborhood — Rolling Hills Estates — a few miles away was in the news with similar problems about a year ago. Some geologists think the two events are connected. Looks to me to be true.

Dozens of home are destroyed, gas and electricity have been disconnected for safety reasons, with temporary sewer lines snaking across streets and sidewalks.

Many of these people have no insurance coverage for this kind of damage. I feel sorry for these folks, but every time I see something like this related to earthquake faults in Cal, I wipe my brow with relief over having moved out of my old (which reads: not earthquake ready) house that was a mile from a major fault line across the bay from San Francisco.

CNN

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They had no insurance coverage because they chose to buy in an uninsurable location. They did have a nice view for a while.

This is not a fault situation but landslide hazard. The area is basically a steep sandy cliff with a pretty steep drop off. I would call it more analogous to building on a flood plain. The slippage has been going on forever and been known by everyone. Large water pipes (12” diameter) that run along the roads have sections/joints built into them where they cross known slip areas, so they can be repaired or adjusted. The road along the shore on that area is not only a roller coaster of a ride with dips galore but there are bends and turns that can regularly (monthly) need to be repaired. My 2 cents.

When I was in junior high we had a whole school assembly where among other things we were told that California would break off into the ocean by 1990.

I blame the whole of the Palos Verdes Peninsula's problems on the idiots that allowed
a certain undesirable character to build a namesake golf club there.

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I’ve posted here about this topic before:

[forums.macresource.com]
[forums.macresource.com]

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It is what it is.

There are so many terms in this article on the Palos Verdes Peninsula from the USGS.gov web site that I would need to look up to understand the fine points.

My lay understanding is that the current peninsula rose out of the sea and was once an island. The current slides are the result of water seeping down through permeable layers until the water rests on a layer with an impermeable, clay layer. Too much water trapped above this clay acts as a lubricant for the layer(s) above to slide downhill.

Unfortunately, the proliferation of homes (with landscaping) and manmade irrigation has helped cause the slide(s) with the increase in water filtering down to the clay layer(s). (Think about how much water a lawn needs compared to the plant life that was present before. Include additional, human-introduced water from leaking and broken pipes—both in- and outflow.) Add the increase mass of structures that have been built fairly recently to an unstable situation, throw in one or two years of heavy rainfall, and we have the current situation.

Attended K-12 public school just north of the current, active areas with many classmates who lived in the affected zones. Beautiful views, stunning area. Sad (though not surprised) to read about what is happening.

Todd's waterboard

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Todd's keyboard
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Attended K-12 public school just north of the current

PVHS?

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It is what it is.

I used to drive through that part of the coast highway, but lately have been avoiding it because the road is bumpy in a way that exists nowhere else in this area.

California is not falling into the ocean. It is rising out of the ocean (and the coastal part is gradually moving north). Geology professors like to take students out to the coast and show them that as you look up along the sea cliffs and the hillsides, you can see successive long-ago beaches at successive altitudes. But when you create a steep cliff and a steep hillside, there is a tendency for landslides, particularly as the onetime seafloor (sandy and muddy, as opposed to solid rock) and now hanging over the ocean from hundreds of feet, gets irrigated with heavy rains.

The views of the Catalina Channel and Catalina Island are amazing, particularly on a clear day. There was a beautiful chapel that was very popular as a wedding site, but it has been removed because the ground under it was moving and breaking. (Look up the Wayfarers' Chapel.)

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N-OS X-tasy!

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Todd's keyboard
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Attended K-12 public school just north of the current

PVHS?

Go Sea Kings!

Our cross-town rival was Rolling Hills High School. One year, a senior came up with the great slogan for that week's football game, Rh negative.

Todd's Dominator-on-the-rocks board

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Todd's keyboard

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N-OS X-tasy!

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Todd's keyboard
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Attended K-12 public school just north of the current

PVHS?

Go Sea Kings!

Our cross-town rival was Rolling Hills High School. One year, a senior came up with the great slogan for that week's football game, Rh negative.

Todd's Dominator-on-the-rocks board

My (former) stepson is a PVHS alum. He attended while I was still married to his mother. He was a four year athlete — between sports events, orientations, parent-teacher conferences, et al., I’ve spent a bunch of time there. Absolutely lovely location — it reminds me of my time at UCSB.

RHHS is now named Peninsula HS.

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It is what it is.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2024 12:30PM by N-OS X-tasy!.

It's tough for those who live there. Can't fault them - the fault lies with those who permitted all the development on unstable land as well as the developers - PV didn't just randomly start sliding around this year… This is happening all up and down the So Cal coastline, especially along the bluffs. All the extra water that residents insisted on putting onto properties to unnaturally landscape them eventually has to go somewhere…

Not the only area with an issue, just not as quickly: Manhattan sinking

Hmm,

My daughter's in-laws live in RVP. Not on the beach/coast, but not much more than a mile away. I suspect that their house is safe, but this is, nonetheless, frightening for them. They are not rich (well, maybe house rich). They bought their hoe 40-45 years ago when PV was mostly a working-class community. As the area prospered--and the area became more desirable (they can see some ocean water out of a corner of their front window)--real estate values exploded. Thus, most of their wealth is tied up in their home. I suspect that this is true for many of their neighbors who have lived there a long time.

I wish them all the best.