Sinkhole Causes Evacuations In San Diego

Streets, Houses Buckle And Start To Shift Down Mountain In City's Posh La Jolla Sector

(CBS/AP)  A sinkhole buckled a four-lane road Wednesday in a hilly upscale neighborhood, destroying one home and damaging five others. No injuries were reported.

Power lines fell, and 20 homes were evacuated, 10 on a hilltop and 10 on a street below, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. Seven people were inside the homes that were evacuated.

The collapse in the La Jolla neighborhood of million-dollar homes left a ravine of crumpled pavement. Orange traffic cones and sections of big concrete pipes sat in the fissure slashing across the wide boulevard.

The hill, cut with plateaus for roads and houses, finally gave way to the most common of forces, gravity, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone. In what geologists call the slide plane, the earth slipped downhill, piling up on the next plateau, adding weight and the risk that gravity would bring more slides.

According to reports from CBS affiliate KFMB, the shifting earth created major cracks in the road, creating a sinkhole 50 yards wide and 12 feet deep.

Six homes were damaged or destroyed and two others were in danger, but the problems appeared to be contained, said Robert Hawk, a city engineering geologist.

"It is fairly well-defined and localized," Hawk said.

Electricity was initially cut off to nearly 2,500 customers but restored to 2,000 within two hours, according to KFMB. Gas was cut off to about a dozen customers.

Holli Weld was walking her son to preschool when the street collapsed.

"It was sinking as I was walking by," she said. "The street was sinking before our eyes."

At least three significant hill slides have occurred in the area between 1961 and 1994, including a major failure in 1961 that destroyed seven homes under construction.

A firm hired by the city last month was in the area this week after a large section of slope on Mount Soledad began to slip, Hawk said. The city began noticing cracks on Soledad Mountain Road in July and became concerned about a landslide three or four weeks ago.

The city sent letters to residents Monday and Tuesday warning residents, and the outside firm hired by the city recommended Tuesday that four homes be evacuated, Hawk said.

[hungry1968]

Since our own infrastructure is collapsing around us, I guess we should do like the Republicans:

Ignore it and ship EVEN MORE MONEY TO IRAQ!!!!

[oleander8]

What is a Ron Paul?

[hideronpaul]

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[toolmangler-2009]

Posted by ralan40 at 06:49 PM : Oct 03, 2007

Thank you for the acknowledgement and I do agree in most of your statement, although it astounds me that people would deliberately live where the very ground could swallow them up in a few seconds without warning.

[geminispyder-2009]

"Who would ever want to live in California, any way?"

More people than any of the other 49 states... that''s who.

[ralan40]

ToolMangler, while you are correct, I do not think this is the case. Many of the hills in California along the coast are mostly made out of dried mud. Besides, your words of warning would fall on the deaf ears of miliions of Californians who prefer to live in areas like this or farther north where this and thousands of active faults exist. The midwest keeps looking better and better all the time, despite the perceived risks, here.

[toolmangler-2009]

If you live in a State where Ore, Coal, Minerals, or Oil is removed from the ground by mining or drilling you may never know what is under your property, (deserted mines, Caverns/Caves, sink holes in progress). There currently is no law that says you must be informed of ''possible hazards'' lurking under your property unless knowingly caused by the former owner.

[rushlimpdrug]

Posted by craash1 - lighten up francis. It is news.
Landslide in California - gee who would have guessed?
Be thankful no one died.
Watched the video where the chick in the neighborhood was pizzed cause they only posted a note on her door about the incident.
Guess she was wanting the government to move her house to a more stable area.

[craash1]

I agree with GUMBO1962!! This is not a venue for you to joke and make fun of someones tragedy. Put your self in any similar situation, how would you feel to read a comment posted for all to see about your plight? I''ve been through a hurricane (no water or electricity for 2 weeks) and found it amazing how the community pulled together. Keep that in mind the next time you need help. Those people in San Diego are in my prayers!!

[MIpapaof4]

Who would ever want to live in California, any way? The whole state should just slip into the ocean and be done with it. Then good ole Arnold could go fishing from his roof top.

[gumbo1962]

It''s so easy to be critical of people, when you don''t understand what they are going through.

Your leaking real bad! Meaning what is coming out of your brain and through your comments, shows what little character you have!

Maybe you should put yourself in their shoes. Just because they have money does not mean they have no feelings and does not mean they are immune from natural disasters.

[azmka]

If this keeps up we will have beach front property in AZ someday.

[foranc]

they took the risk buying the homes (why anyone would want to live there I cannot fathom), I would assume nobody held a gun to anyone''s head to force them to buy. If they don''t have sufficient insurance coverage, that''s on them.

[gkc99]

"However, about eight to 12 homes are in serious danger. . .
The homes in this area are worth as much as $2 million."


So drop the prices to 1 mill each and sell them to New Yorkers and Hong Kongers.