LOS ANGELES – A small landslide struck a portion of the Southern California coastline, leaving a neighborhood with rattled nerves.
Video shows the damage inflicted on the backyards of four homes on Marguerite Drive in Rancho Palos Verdes, approximately 30 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles. Rancho Palos Verdes' officials confirmed that no injuries were reported and no structural damage was found in a statement released on Sept. 28.
The landslides that happened on Sept. 27 caused approximately 300 to 400 linear feet of the hillside neighborhood to drop about 50 to 60 feet down toward the coastline, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The city called the event an "isolated incident" and unrelated to the ongoing land movement in the Portuguese Bend area that has seen significant movement in the last two years.
Landslides continue in Rancho Palos Verdes
The Palos Verdes Peninsula, a Los Angeles County area that juts into the Pacific Ocean, shifted around 16 inches toward the ocean last fall, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The motion is also accelerating and impacting hundreds of buildings in local communities, according to the analysis conducted by JPL landslide scientist Alexander Handwerger.
"In effect, we’re seeing that the footprint of land experiencing significant impacts has expanded, and the speed is more than enough to put human life and infrastructure at risk," Handwerger said in the NASA report.
The land is moving about 80 times faster than it was in October 2022 and the active area of the landslide complex has expanded from just under 400 acres to 700 acres, according to the city. Currently, the city doesn't believe there is a risk of a sudden, catastrophic landslide.
The land movement has prompted the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council to consider a ban on building new construction in Portuguese Bend, according to SF Gate.
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Anthony Robledo – USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Southern California beach backyards damaged in landslide. Video captures impact.
Reporting by James Powel, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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