Are you telling me if you build a building on a cliff it may slide off? Unbelievable

That man is getting upset saying _"there should have been more warning."_ Of course, blame someone else but he bought a house built on the side of a giant ravine!

I'm from CA, and I have always thought as a kid that it's stupid to build homes on hills like this.

I grew up in Southern California and it's been well known for many, many years how dicey and unstable these areas are. Why they allowed all these neighborhoods to be built up is beyond me.

Why were developers allowed to build there in the first place?

Those poor rich people may have to move into their Palm Springs condos until they get this sorted out...

Omg!! I never thought I’d see my geology professor from ten years ago on the news. Funny enough, I took “natural disasters” with him and we took a field trip to Portuguese Point to observe the massive risks related to land movement.

In 1960, my parents were house hunting and looked at a home on Palos Verdes. I remember the view of being surrounded by nothing but ocean. It was beyond breathtaking. I was like "Dad! Get this house!" My dad said, "I'm not going to pay $23,000 for a house!"

People who lived in Palo Verde 50 years ago told me that the big disadvantage is that the land is unstable. It's not like this was unknown. It's not 'fixable'.

"someone dropped the ball" yes, you did when you bought the home.

We have the same sort of issue on the Jersey shore. People built in flood prone areas near the ocean, and are then shocked when a hurricane floods everything and wipes out their homes...

The blame goes to the city officials who gave permits to build on this land. A lot of palms were greased to make this happen. Geologists are on record warning of this since the 1950s. That's why most of the development in this area didn't happen til the 80's, when city and county officials finally were greased enough by land developers. This same thing has happened all over Florida, where most of the development is on swamp land. That's why there are so many canals and man-made lakes designed to control the water from swallowing back your house. The most dangerous of this development is on the coast where skyscrapers are built to the edge of the ocean. One day they may come down by erosion.

I lived in the South Bay area where Palos Verdes peninsula is located. I worked and played in Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills for many years. I dated a woman that lived in Palos Verdes Estates. Her pool was cracked in some locations. The lands up there are always moving. Portugese Bend has experienced landslides for many decades. It's an extremely beautiful place to live with views of the Pacific Ocean in some locations. But, i always wondered why building permits were issued in many places on the peninsula and why buyers of these homes were so damn naive. Do your homework, people.

The Palos Verdes fault line runs directly underneath the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and though mostly underwater, it sits under places like Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills Estates and the Long Beach and Los Angeles Harbors. The nearly 70 mile line stretches from Dana Point to the Santa Monica Bay.

Anyone who has driven around Portuguese bend knows the road area that is constantly moving. Its POSTED as 5MPH in some areas because of road buckling and shifting. That's been going on for decades. Nice views of Catalina on a clear day but very risky to build a property on.

I remember in the late 60’s (I was very young) riding by bike along PV Dr. South & the road was very unstable at that time. Clearly the road showed signs of a LOT of movement. We would stop and look out into the ocean and you could see this brown cloud in the water, which was part of the eroding hillside, hitting the water.

Sorry to ALL affected. They do call them "rolling hills" for a reason! Its a geological process and doesn't stop for home owners.

Experts have been saying this long before the landslide. ''This may have been preventable'' Yeah it's called choosing not to live somewhere that people have been saying for over two decades will have very active plate tectonic movement.

We once went house shopping in that area. One day we stopped at a listed unit. I got out of the car and looked over the gate at the side of the house. I felt like I was looking straight down the ravine at little roofs far below. I got a little dizzy. - We live in flat ol’ Torrance, now.

I lived in L.A. for 60 years, and have seen many of these erosion episodes, and people lose their homes. No one thinks to check on the geological status BEFORE they put all their money into them.

The locals are all aware that RPV is built on unstable ground. There is even one road, "Portugese Bend" that has signs posted reminding drivers the ground there is in constant motion and not to stop their cars. The road itself is very bumpy and uneven, and utility pipes are laid above ground because they can't be buried in that soil. This is not new news to the local residents. It's a risk they took but they were not uninformed.

Hilltop homes are wonderful, but I chose not to purchase one in another area because I was afraid of earthquake damage or total destruction of a home perched on a hill. And with increased rainfall and atmospheric rivers these hills will slide more often. It is part of the geological and weathering processes.

As the old carney used to say: "Youse pays yer money and youse takes yer chances". Building on steep hillsides, in flood plains, on earthquake faults, or below dams is not a good plan for uninterrupted bliss.

I have a friend and her family that live there! Pray they’re safe!!🙏🏻❤️

It was 100 % preventable, They did not have to move there.

Nothing lasts forever, the land is always changing 😊

My parents told me about the collapse back in the early '60s in Rolling Hils and Palos Verdes. This has been an ongoing issue for over half a century, yet they continue to build in that area. At some point, you cannot be stupid anymore..

Big Rock in Malibu, the bluffs in Pacific Palisades, Bluebird Canyon in Laguna Beach are some of the other coastal LA areas that have been moving for many decades. Everyone knows it, but people repeatedly build, then every time something like this happens everyone acts shocked and the homeowners look for someone to blame besides themselves.

My friend is a geologist, and she says that developers never read the reports about the findings of whatever area they are trying to build on.. that’s terrifying!!

The people who built those homes knew exactly what they were doing. They built those homes on a foundation they knew was temporary. And they are slip/sliding away.

I haven't lived there for 40 years it was sliding then, and it will continue to now and forever.

I lived very close to this until quite recently (the beach). The earth is ALWAYS moving there.

It’s all about greed. That land should never have been developed.

Who would've thought living on the edge of a canyon could be problematic?

The beauty of these places drive people to want to live there. However due to unstable soil and geologic conditions, there are some places that people should avoid building homes. My heart goes out to the people losing everything.

For decades, I have thought the entire PV Peninsula is not a good place to own a home due to ongoing soil movement. I feel bad for the people who lost their homes, but I find it shocking that they were not previously concerned about the unstable soil throughout the peninsula.

They shouldn't have been allowed to build there. Was there no environmental studies done 1st???

Yes area has always been moving. I can see small rocks and dirt always coming off from the hills as I am driving through in the area and there are signs everywhere stating it. Why builders are allowed to build houses in all that area??? And why people keep buying homes there regardless???

This is exactly what I've been predicting, in fact I think the area between LA and San Diego is at risk of submerging when the Big One hits.

The rock in Palos Verdes soil is soft and I could crumble it by hand as a child in the 70s. Everyone who ever drove the coast through the Portuguese Bend area knew decades ago that the ground was unstable up there. It absolutely AMAZES me the way County Supervisors fast tracked public emergency assistance for rich people living in a gated private community.

Good grief…warnings everywhere to drivers, hikers and bikers…but developers built houses on unstable ground…and people shocked when it does exactly what it was stated it could do. I got nothing…

The builders and the city made tons of money. Even if the owners knew they were on unstable ground that would not have stopped them from buying for the view.

1955 Toronto hit with Hurricane Hazel and significant flooding, damage etc. (look it up) to communities along shore of Lake Ontario and Humber River Basin. Government response was to map the floodplain and turn all those waterfront areas into parks. Big win for citizens as we now have these beautiful areas for cycling, picnics, parks etc.

My aunt lived in RPV in the 70’s and 80’s. She sold her home, because the ground kept moving and damaging her house. This is not new.

It looks like those hills are not made of rock but rather clay deposits. Developers just see open land, though, without much consideration to the consistency of the ground they build on.

These people literally lived in a place called Rolling Hills and they're shocked that this happened?!? Still, prayers going out to all those affected.

They have always had to make repairs on Palos Verdes Drive at the south side of the Peninsula near Portuguese Bend due to landslides. It was constant back in the 1970s when I lived there.

Working in heavy construction for thirty years building subdivisions in sandy areas was always sketchy. Unless it was in a level area where the grounds could be compacted well. But on a sandy hillside is rolling the dice every time.

As a building contractor for 35 years, I can tell you that this is what happens when your local building department is either inept or getting kick backs from developers. It is not that difficult to determine if the ground your building on is stable or not. It’s not difficult but it can be an expensive process, so it doesn’t get done. Potential homeowners with no construction experience or knowledge should do their own research or pay out of pocket to hire independent experts and engineers. These people did not do that and now have been defrauded by their building department.

I remember houses sliding into Elliot Bay in Seattle after heavy snowfall and rain in 1996. Homeowners in the area sued Seattle/King County to build their homes in areas that were deemed too unstable, yet after the storms and homes slid over the fact they ( property owners) were allowed to build them.

The families trusted those who assured them the land was safe. I truly feel sorry for those who lost their homes and the things they valued. Thankfully, they didn't lose their lives.

This has been happening for years. The road that goes from San Pedro thru Palos Verdes has been shifting

That’s not where humans are supposed to build things and live permanently. It’s where we should go camping and let nature be beautiful !!! It’s sliding into the ocean a little bit every year. This year the rain made it worse.

My heart goes out to the people who have lost their homes. Heartbreaking! This actually could happen... anywhere on Earth.

Almost 20 years ago, I used to jog through subdivisions and public areas to reach the Pacific coast in the south side of the peninsula. I remember (countless of times) how I could see new cracks forming week after week in the summer on Palos Verdes Blvd, some of them requiring shutting down traffic for the road crews to fix the problem. I also remember a lot for sale on a hill nearby Del Cerro park that literally “vanished” after a heavy rain (due to the landslide that followed). And some folks still pay millions for a house that may not last the next rainy season…

Yes, it could have been prevented if they have NOT BUILD anything over there. These greedy asswipes homebuyers knew what they were doing and these homeowners should have known better.

I lived on the Peninsula 60 years ago. They had already changed the location of the major road around the area because of landslides. That was because of a horizontal clay layer that turned into mud if it got wet. We used to hike up and down the cliffs and bluffs. The rock will crumble in your hand. It's layers of soft sediments that aren't consolidated. Despite all that, it was a great place to grow up and run around like you were in the country. If you buy a home there, make sure it's on a flat area.

We lived in RPV and one thing that was concerning is how many homes were built before the stronger earthquake guidelines. It is beautiful though, our views were amazing. Note, when she is showing the sign about land movement that pipe infrastructure behind her is ABOVE ground because it moves so much there.

It amazes me that people would buy a home without confirming the structural integrity of the ground it's built on. It's equally ridiculous if homebuilders aren't required to conduct such surveys and disclose the findings.

Growing up nearby, I would Mountain bike with friends around those hills when it was open fields. I recall though the hills looked rugged, however some areas were soft and dangerous because you could find yourself in a sinkhole while riding through. This is probably what happened after many years later the ground gave way, and of course the recent rains didn't help.

So many things that can be said... so many things wrong!!! But when she said the HOA is working on locating a GEOLOGISTS, I died 😂

Pretty much all of coastal California has been known for ages to be "geologically active." It takes little more than a glance at a map of fault lines in the Los Angeles area, and a terrain map, to see that the Palos Verdes peninsula is on a kind of shelf. Last year a study from Harvard said the fault had far greater potential to be the focus of a large magnitude earthquake than formerly known. That is new but scarcely surprising information. Earth movement has been common on this peninsula for a long time. My guess is that it is sliding into the sea, and there's not a blessed thing that can stop it or even appreciably delay it. My understanding is that ordinary homeowner's casualty insurance doesn't cover damage from earth movement. Even earthquake insurance won't cover this. IMHO, that's how it should be. Building on land that is primed to slide should not be insurable.

We live on a giant bowl of molten soup that has formed into a ball instead of spilling all over the place because it exists in a vacuum and reached a certain density. The surface of that soup has cooled and congealed into a thin, unstable, frequently wet crust. It's been that way long enough, not only has bacteria started to grow in the wet areas, it's also started to evolve and expand across the rest of the crust. That anything survives at all is incredible.

Look at these rich people saying it "could have been preventable". Just looking to sue someone for the risk they took buying there.

Pretty good indication not to build there. I'm sure building contracts included clauses regarding erosion, saturation, and possible land/soil risks.

It is hard to believe that thaw home builders and regulators didn’t know this land was unsuitable for buildings

Why would you fill cracks on a Cliff face?? The crqcks opened up because it's sliding downwards! Filling the cracks is adding more mass on the top of the sliding slope!!! Are they trying to make it slide faster?

Paradise has a price.

What's worse is no insurance coverage for landslides. A total loss for these homeowners

After any heavy rainy season in southern California this happens. Last year the cliffs in san clemente caved in. Its a naturally recurring event.

If you have lived her long enough, you'll remember in the movie Lethal Weapon 2 they 'pulled' a house down. Well it was a house in Rolling Hills that had been condemned, and they got permission to film them pulling it down. That was 1988/89. Rolling Hills has had movement problems for years. Some people never learn.

It’s insane to live perched in such a vulnerable place.

all you have to do is, take a ride to near by San Pedro's Point Ferman and take a look at Sunken City. that should tell you that the area has a history of erosion and landslides.

C'MON! People who buy in the hills are aware of possible or future landslides or liquefaction. The only people who dropped the ball are the buyers who didn't do their due diligence to hire the proper inspector to conduct soil testing to determine if the property is worth buying.

I've hiked in this exact area before. It is breathtakingly beautiful but eerie at the same time. There are these big water pipes along the trail that are kind of like an accordion that try to adjust with the land movement.

The planet is doing what it's always done, you just happened to be in the way

They knew they shouldn’t build there and they did anyway because they knew how much money people would pay to live there

Why am getting ads after ad blockers installed?? any idea

As many others have noted, this stuff is NOT NEW. At least as far back as the 1950s there was evidence this area was UNSTABLE. Homeowner that asked who was responsible for the damage should look in the mirror. Building/buying homes in high risk historically unstable areas, or ANY other steep hillside or beachfront cliffside home, should not expect a bailout. High risk homesite - that's on YOUR dime. Documentary WAY BACK explained the US agency in charge, told people in historical flood zones on the mid/lower Mississipi to relocate up on the bluffs or they were on their own. Hate to see anyone lose their home, but the risks were obvious.

Hello the name says it all...”Rolling Hills”

What good does filling the cracks do other than waste material???

How is the governor going to blame Trump for this?

People that complain "they should have done more" or "they should have given us warning".... really irk me. When these homeowners are driving around looking for a home to buy, and see normal homes, on flat land, and stable neighborhoods and say to themselves "nah, we want to buy this home, built on a cliff" ..... it is ALL on them. They took the risk. They CHOSE this home. No empathy whatsoever.

Hang on, the place is called 'Rolling Hills' and no-one stopped to think what that actually implied? Someone wasn't thinking.....

I had a chance to buy a beautiful house with great views on near top of a hill among many houses. It had no issues with land sliding but not for me. It could slide anytime due to rain or any reason in years or decades!

Now that headline is somewhat misleading. Although some parts of the peninsula are prone to slides, it's a stretch to say that the entire peninsula is at risk. This area is no more likely to have landslides than Palisades, Malibu and many other neighborhoods sitting on hilly land along the coast. The Portuguese Bend area is an exception, but that is a small part of PV.

Earth is reclaiming itself from the destruction of man.

As a midwest resident I can confirm building a home anywhere in CA is insane.

I left Rancho Palos Verdes in 1990. Homes were still out if reach to buy. We left So Cal and never looked back. I do still miss the atmosphere of living in an affluent area but that's how life goes.

That whole area has been having issues ever since before I was born.

How did Mr Yen expect anyone to predict the landslide?

I feel bad for the homeowners, but seriously.. was the sunken city in San Pedro not enough of a cautionary sign?

The San Clemente landslip that knocked out passenger train service between Oceanside and San Juan Capistrano followed after a very rainy winter. But it has been dry in SoCal for over a month.

I used to pick up my daughter from a family that lived in a house on top of a hill in San Jose -- who had picked her up from a Scout meeting. The entire area was designated a "seismic activity study area.' The road up to the top was in a continual, slow-but-measurable LANDSLIDE! Neither insurance rate-payers nor taxpayers should have to bail out people who take that risk.

Wow, I never would have expected that building my house on the edge of a steep hill would put me at risk of my home being destroyed by a landslide.

Nobody knew your house was going to slide, but mud/landslides occurr quite often in California.

Sending love from Florida. Just spent time in CA. Beautiful state.

Where is this

All around PV the oil pipes have extensions so when the soil moves they don’t split apart, and the roads have repairs from the cracks due to ground movement. I’m suprized this issue has not happened more. But the views from these homes along PV are fantastic.

This is beyond ridiculous! Why was building ever permitted on land like this?