San Clemente Bluff Caves In; 7 Homes Evacuated

Residents of seven homes on a bluff overlooking the Shorecliff Golf Course in San Clemente were told to leave their homes Thursday after a massive landslide Wednesday night left the houses perched on the edge of a vertical 20-foot escarpment.

The slide, which involved an estimated 100,000 cubic yards of soil, occurred about 10 p.m. Wednesday, according to residents in the 200 block of Via Alegre, a neighborhood of ocean-view homes valued at $180,000 to $200,000.

No one was injured and there was no immediate dollar estimate of the damage. Gas and water lines were turned off as a precautionary measure. Electricity remained on. The cause of the slide had not been determined Thursday night and fire officials were uncertain exactly how many people lived in the affected houses.

“We have reports from two geologists telling us the homes cannot be considered safe until a series of test borings are made,” said Fire Chief Tom Dailey, who ordered the evacuation. He said the residents would be asked to leave “immediately.”

A section of the bluff 100 feet long collapsed in the slide, taking with it the patios of two homes. The slippage is threatening to encroach another 10 to 20 feet into the property beneath the other buildings, according to Beach Leighton, of Leighton & Associates, Irvine geologists hired by the city.

The last major slide in San Clemente destroyed 10 homes on Dec. 30, 1983, in Verde Canyon, about two miles from the site of the incident Wednesday night.

Dailey said the test borings will be done either today or Saturday, and the results will determine the duration of the evacuation order.