San Pedro landslide: enormous stretch of Paseo del Mar collapsed into the Pacific Ocean

An enormous stretch of coastal road collapsed into the Pacific Ocean Sunday, and left a gaping hole where the road once was, after a large rainstorm in San Pedro.

The coastal road, located along an 800-foot section of Paseo del Mar in San Pedro, had been closed to traffic for several months as the road sunk and shifted. Signs also served as a warning to residents to stay away from the unstable section.

Peter Sanders, spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, says the road is likely irreparable, and that plans for a new roadway must now be considered.

It was reported that no one was injured and no homes were directly in the path of the San Pedro landslide.

However, a local resident said: “My greatest concern is that all these homes are going to end up in the water, and that we’re going to be separated like our own little island.”

Knowing the enormous landslide may be a temptation to adventure seekers and the insatiably curious, Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has assigned the LAPD to patrol the area overnight.

“Because this is such a new thing, there are going to be a lot of looky-loos out here,” Carmen Trutanich told one worker.

An 8-foot chain link fence was installed around the most dangerous parts of the landslide. Visitors and residents of the area came out in the pouring rain to observe the sight.

The landslide began late this summer at a very gradual pace.

At the beginning of November, the road was moving at a rate of about half an inch a day, according to geologists.

Then fissures began appearing more frequently, and the road started to buckle.

According to engineers the landslide is moving nearly four inches a day – vertically and horizontally – widening the fissures and dropping chunks of roadway and dirt into the ocean.

The road runs south of downtown Los Angeles along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and served as a place for nearby residents to walk their dogs and cycle along the bluffs.

Peter Sanders says a geological firm has been hired to study the cause of the landslide, which will take around seven months to complete.

Some experts say that the continued popularity of building homes near the bluffs merely exacerbated the problem of landslides in the area.