Hundreds of homes are left without power in a city near Los Angeles through the middle of the week as a long-running ground shift close to them is threatening power lines.
One city council member said that the tectonic activity in the area was “unprecedented. No one knows really, in a way, what to do.”
Outage in Southern California
The Southern California Edison company has been forced to cut off electricity on Sunday to 140 homes in the Portuguese Bend community.
The outage will be indefinite because the shifting ground underneath the city threatens the integrity of utility poles and could cause potential fires throughout the city.
Edison Spokesperson Releases a Statement
Kathleen Dunleavy, a SoCal Edison spokesperson, said, “There was a fire last week.”
“It was a small fire, but the fire was caused when one of our lines fell because of land movement, and that shows how dangerous this area is.”
Hundreds of Customers Affected
The utility and power company notified 105 more customers that they would lose power on Monday evening as they continue to monitor the threat of ground movement.
This number is in addition to 140 homes in the community that are without power indefinitely.
The Affected Community
The community in question is Rancho Palos Verdes, a small oceanfront community in southwestern Los Angeles County, west of Long Beach.
The area was incorporated as an independent city in 1973.
The City is Shifting
Officials in Rancho Palos Verdes say the ground has been shifting for decades, but the issue is getting progressively worse.
“The movement has accelerated dramatically over the last 12 months, where some areas are moving up to 10 inches a week,” explained David Bradley, a city council member. “You can almost see the ground move.”
What Causes the Ground To Move?
Southern California is located on the North American and Pacific Plates, which are grinding past each other along the San Andreas fault.
Usually, the plates move at a rate of 1-2 inches per year, but some areas can have increased seismic activity. It’s the frequent reason for the common earthquakes in the state.
Residents May Be Evacuated
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said that they need weary residents to take evacuation warnings more seriously.
To help out residents who may not wish to leave their homes, law enforcement will step up patrol in the area and launch drones to look for looting. “You’re going to jail if you come here to steal anything,” Luna said in a news conference on Sunday.
Ongoing State of Emergency
The Rancho Palos Verdes community has been placed under a state of emergency since October 2023.
Natural gas services have been shut off in the Portuguese Bend neighborhood since July 29 due to the seismic activity.
Los Angeles County Steps Up to Help
Janice Hahn, the Fourth District Supervisor said on Sunday that Los Angeles County set aside an extra $5 million in disaster relief to aid the small community.
She also said that she hopes Gov. Gavin Newsom will declare his own state of emergency in Rancho Palos Verdes to bring much-needed aid to the area.
Hahn’s Statement on the Emergency
“Yes, this landslide has been moving for decades, but the acceleration that’s happening currently is beyond what any of us could have foretold, and it demands more response from the state, more response from the federal government,” Hahn said.
The issues in the area are unmistakable, as landslides and shifting ground make the town unsafe for residents.
Landslides Threaten the Area
More than 100 people have been evacuated from their homes so far, with more ongoing through the week.
Massive landslides are threatening several multi-million dollar homes. The area shifting has grown to about 680 acres in size.
