Straight answers to the questions people ask most about the Palos Verdes landslide.
It's the Greater Portuguese Bend Landslide Complex — four connected landslides (Portuguese Bend, Abalone Cove, Klondike Canyon, and the Beach Club slide) covering roughly 700 acres on the south side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Rancho Palos Verdes. All four sit within a much larger ancient landslide, about two square miles, that formed tens of thousands of years ago.
The ground here is naturally primed to slide: weak, seaward-tilted layers of Altamira Shale containing bentonite clay that turns slippery when wet. The modern movement began in 1956, when fill placed during the Crenshaw Boulevard extension reactivated part of the ancient slide. The dramatic 2023–24 acceleration was driven by two consecutive record-wet winters that raised groundwater deep inside the slide mass.
Yes, but far more slowly. As of July 2026, the complex is moving about 60% slower than a year earlier — averaging about 1.1 inches per week in the areas still moving. Seaview and the Portuguese Bend Beach Club have shown no measurable movement for months. At the 2024 peak, parts of the slide moved several inches per week. See Maps & Data for current per-area rates.
Probably not entirely — but it can be slowed dramatically, and the evidence says it's happening. Because water is the driver, the strategy is to remove it: deep dewatering wells at the slide's toe have pumped over half a billion gallons since fall 2024, alongside hydraugers, surface drainage, and winterization. The planned ~$33 million Portuguese Bend Landslide Remediation Project aims to make that suppression permanent. Abalone Cove offers precedent: dewatering in the 1980s slowed it to a near-stop for decades.
Palos Verdes Drive South is open and maintained, though it can close temporarily for repairs. Public access is restricted in parts of the Portuguese Bend Reserve where fissures and scarps altered trails; obey posted closures — ground near fissures can be unstable even when it looks solid. Respect residents' privacy in affected neighborhoods.
Almost never. Standard California policies exclude earth movement — cracking, sinking, shifting, expanding land — and the FAIR Plan excludes landslide too. Specialty "difference-in-conditions" policies can sometimes include it; availability and cost in the slide area are challenging. Talk to a licensed broker, and see the Resident Guide.
The FEMA/Cal OES-funded Voluntary Property Buyout Program purchases qualifying damaged homes at fair market value, with FEMA covering 75% and owners effectively contributing 25% through a reduced payment. Applications closed November 8, 2024, with 85 eligible applications received; 22 homes were selected in Round 1 ($42M) and 5 more in Round 2 ($10.16M), with up to 13 additional homes under consideration using new Cal OES funds. Purchases proceed once FEMA formally awards the grants — a process that has frustrated many owners with its pace. Selected addresses are not published, to protect applicants' privacy. Track progress in Latest Updates.
The L.A. County Assessor proactively reassessed tagged properties — you should receive a Notice of Assessed Value Change and an adjusted bill without applying. You can also file Misfortune & Calamity and Decline-in-Value claims. Details in the Resident Guide.
Yes. A city urgency ordinance (adopted September 2024, extension through 2028 under consideration) streamlines approvals for stabilizing and re-leveling homes — steel-beam foundation systems, adjustable jacks, and similar measures many owners have used to keep houses livable on moving ground. Start with RPV Building & Safety.
It depends on your neighborhood's stability. With movement now minimal in Seaview and the Beach Club, SoCalGas has been restoring gas to Seaview homes that request it after infrastructure upgrades, and SCE evaluates re-energization as conditions allow. Check SCE's RPV page and SoCalGas's RPV page for your address.
Lloyd Wright's landmark glass chapel closed in February 2024 as land movement warped its structures, and was fully dismantled by that September — every part catalogued and stored. Its board plans to rebuild at a prospective new campus at Battery Barnes near RPV City Hall, about 1.7 miles away, with a visitors center, museum, café, and gardens. Follow the chapel's restoration page.
A mix: City general funds and emergency spending (dewatering wells, road repairs, winterization), FEMA hazard-mitigation grants ($42M + $10.16M for buyouts; $23.3M toward the remediation project), Cal OES disaster funds, and property-owner assessments within the abatement districts. A proposed third abatement district would add a standing local funding source for Portuguese Bend.
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes' Land Movement Updates page and City Council staff reports are the authoritative sources, backed by contractor GPS surveys. NASA/JPL and the California Geological Survey provide independent scientific measurement. This site organizes all of it — see Reports & Documents — but for time-sensitive decisions, always confirm with the official source.
Send documents, meeting notes, photos, corrections, or tips to contact@pvlandslide.com. If you live in the area, attending City Council and district meetings — and speaking during public comment — is the most direct way to shape the response.