Peninsula-Wide Landslides
The Greater Portuguese Bend complex is the biggest active landslide on the Palos Verdes Peninsula — but it is far from the only one. The same seaward-tilted, bentonite-laced Altamira Shale underlies much of the peninsula, and it has produced destructive slides from San Pedro to Rolling Hills for nearly a century. This page tracks them all, so no event gets confused with another.
One Peninsula, Many Slides
Each entry below is a distinct landslide or slide area with its own location, history, and status. When news breaks about "a Palos Verdes landslide," start here to identify which one. The Greater Portuguese Bend complex — the subject of the rest of this site — is listed first; the others are separate events on separate ground.
See the slides on the landslide map to find where each one is.
For the four cities themselves (neighborhoods, maps, schools and services), see Palos Verdes Life's guides to Rancho Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates, and its overview of the Peninsula as a whole.
Greater Portuguese Bend Complex · Rancho Palos Verdes · active
The main event: about 715 acres of land movement (per the City's 2025 Ordinance 692) within a much larger mapped ancient slide on the peninsula's south flank — the Portuguese Bend (1956–), Abalone Cove (1974–), Klondike Canyon (~1980–), and Beach Club slides. Reaccelerated dramatically in 2023–24. In the City's early-October 2026 survey (reported Oct. 28, 2026), the Portuguese Bend slide itself averaged 0.88 inches per week, up 14.8% from September to October; City staff put its slowdown since just before the deep dewatering wells were installed at 91%. Areas still moving within the active landslide boundary averaged 1.05 inches per week, up 7.6% since early August, and Abalone Cove averaged 1.36 inches per week. The City's geologist attributes the increase largely to erosion at the landslide's toe from wave action. The subject of this site's Updates, History, Maps, and Resident Guide.
Sources: City of RPV 2026 Community Updates Archive (Oct. 28, 2026 entry) · City staff report for the Nov. 4, 2026 Council meeting (a large PDF; p. 15).
Flying Triangle · Rolling Hills · active
A sloping, sea-view section of gated Rolling Hills on the ancient complex's eastern flank. It began moving in 1979–80 — at times 5 to 7 feet per year — and destroyed at least a dozen homes through the 1980s. The 2023–24 acceleration reached it again: residents in the Flying Triangle, Cinchring Road, and Quail Ridge Road South areas lost power and gas.
In mid-2025 Rolling Hills looked into a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) voluntary buyout similar to RPV's. On Sept. 23, 2025, the City of Rolling Hills announced that, after working with Cal OES, it does not qualify: the required benefit-cost analysis scored 0.83, below FEMA's minimum of 1.0. The same notice said SoCalGas was notifying residents on Quail Ridge and Cinchring that day that it would begin upgrading and testing its gas infrastructure in Rolling Hills on Sept. 24, 2025, so it could restore gas to homeowners who request it and whose homes are ready. On Oct. 2, 2025, SoCalGas said it had begun that work. In its Jan. 7, 2026 land movement update (the newest on that page as of October 14, 2026), Rolling Hills said SCE had restored power to two more homes in the affected area and that City staff were working with residents and SCE to restore power to those who wish to return to the grid.
Newer official information is in filings at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). In October 2024 the City of Rolling Hills filed a complaint against SCE over the 2024 shutoffs (Case C.24-10-008). The case has been on hold while the two sides file regular joint status reports. In their Oct. 1, 2026 report, they said SCE de-energized 54 Rolling Hills customers in September 2024 and restored 12 in October 2024, and that between October 2024 and Sept. 30, 2026, SCE restored power to all but 10. Of those 10, two "should be re-energized soon" and eight do not plan to return to SCE service; Rolling Hills reports that five of the eight switched to solar. The same report says SCE replaced three poles for its tension-relief project in Rolling Hills by April 9, 2026; nesting-bird season held up the rest until September; vegetation clearing began Sept. 1, 2026, followed by construction; and SCE expected to finish three of five construction segments by mid-October 2026 and the whole project in the second quarter of 2027. SCE has told customers this work "does not affect or depend on your current re-energization status." The two sides have signed an agreement on communication, coordination and data sharing for any future shutoffs caused by land movement; SCE keeps sole discretion over safety decisions. In Decision 26-10-024 (dated Oct. 8, issued Oct. 12, 2026), the CPUC extended the case's deadline to March 31, 2027, saying the time would allow it "to prepare a decision dismissing the complaint" and would let the parties continue the settlement process.
Rolling Hills' parallel CPUC complaint against SoCalGas (Case C.24-10-009) is closed. In a July 31, 2026 joint report, the two sides said SoCalGas had reconnected all gas mains and service lines in the affected areas and that gas service was available to all eligible residents who want it. In its Aug. 31, 2026 motion to withdraw the complaint, Rolling Hills noted SoCalGas's statement that service had been restored to eight residents who wanted it, but said "the vast majority of residents remain without gas service." The CPUC dismissed the case with prejudice on Oct. 5, 2026.
Sources: City of Rolling Hills community updates archive (Sept. 23, 2025) · SoCalGas land movement update (Oct. 2, 2025) · City of Rolling Hills land movement updates (Jan. 7, 2026) · CPUC joint status report, Rolling Hills v. SCE, C.24-10-008 (Oct. 1, 2026, PDF) · CPUC Decision 26-10-024 (Oct. 8, 2026, PDF) · SCE landslide-area page (August 2026 update) · CPUC joint status report, Rolling Hills v. SoCalGas, C.24-10-009 (July 31, 2026, PDF) · Rolling Hills motion to withdraw its SoCalGas complaint (Aug. 31, 2026, PDF) · CPUC order of dismissal (Oct. 5, 2026, PDF). Background: LAist (July 2025) · Patch (June 2025).
Peartree Lane · Rolling Hills Estates · July 2023
On July 8, 2023, a canyon-edge failure beneath the Peartree Lane neighborhood tore apart 12 homes, which slid toward Agua Amarga Canyon over the following days — evacuations, red tags, and total losses in a neighborhood where residents had raised construction-era concerns decades before. A separate failure from the Portuguese Bend complex, northwest of it in Rolling Hills Estates, and a reminder that canyon rims share the peninsula's weak geology.
Coverage: KTLA · CBS LA. Peer-reviewed satellite study of the failure: Li et al. (2024), Geophysical Research Letters, which concluded it was a first-time failure after one of the wettest years on record, unlike the nearby slow-moving landslides.
Ocean Trails / "Landslide C" · RPV east side · 1999
Weeks before the Ocean Trails Golf Club opened in June 1999, a ~600-by-220-foot slice carrying most of the 18th hole failed toward the sea on a separate ancient slide lobe, snapping a 27-inch sewer main. The collapse bankrupted the developers; Donald Trump bought the course in 2002 and rebuilt it as Trump National. Full story in History.
Sunken City / Point Fermin · San Pedro · 1929
The peninsula's original cautionary tale. Beginning with a crack on January 2, 1929, a seaside subdivision at Point Fermin slid toward the ocean — at its peak 11 inches per day, dropping over 7.5 feet in six months and ultimately shifting ~30 feet seaward and 30 feet down by 1941. Homes were demolished or hauled away, the land was bought up, and the fenced ruins — streets, curbs, foundations — remain one of L.A.'s most famous forbidden landscapes.
White Point / Paseo del Mar · San Pedro · 2011
On November 20, 2011 — after weeks of heavy rain — about 420 feet of Paseo del Mar slid 53 feet toward the ocean near White Point, less than a mile from Sunken City. No one was hurt and no homes were lost, but the coastal road has never been reconnected. Eighty-two years after 1929, the same stretch of coast delivered the same lesson.
Background: Wikipedia · aerial survey imagery.
Marguerite Drive bluff · RPV west side · Sept. 2025
A ~300–400-foot section of coastal bluff off Marguerite Drive sloughed 50–60 feet toward the shoreline on September 27, 2025 — roughly 4 miles from the Portuguese Bend complex, later assessed as static. The slough was on the bluff between Christmas Tree Cove and Vista Point. Four backyards were affected (one badly) and no homes were threatened. Covered in our Updates and FAQ.
Why the Whole Peninsula Slides
Every event above shares the same ingredients: the Altamira Shale's bentonite clay seams, layers tilted toward the sea, coastal bluffs undercut by waves, and — in nearly every case — water as the trigger, whether record rain (2023–24, 2011), irrigation and drainage (long suspected at Peartree Lane and Ocean Trails), or broken pipes. The peninsula's slides differ enormously in size and speed, but not in mechanism.
That shared geology is why the four peninsula cities now plan together: the FEMA-approved Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (2026) covers landslide risk across Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, and Palos Verdes Estates — see Reports & Documents.
Don't mix them up
Real-estate research, insurance questions, and news reports often conflate the peninsula's slides. The quick test: where is it? The active buyouts, the Ordinance 692 ban on new residential construction, and the dewatering story belong to the Greater Portuguese Bend complex on RPV's south coast. Peartree Lane is Rolling Hills Estates. Sunken City and White Point are San Pedro (City of Los Angeles). Marguerite Drive is RPV's west side. Each has its own jurisdiction, rules, and history.
To check whether a parcel is inside the landslide regulation area (Ordinance 692), use the City's official Landslide Area Development Regulations boundary map (PDF, 3.8 MB; zoom in for lot lines). Where the boundary line crosses a parcel, only the part inside it is subject to the regulations. The City's Landslide Area Map Address Search is quicker, but its disclaimer says it is for general information and was not prepared for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. For questions, including a parcel's status, the City's Ordinance 692 page says to email landmovement@rpvca.gov; City Hall's main number is 310-544-5200. For how fast the ground is moving, see the City's survey maps.
Sources: City of RPV, Landslide Area Development Regulations · City of RPV, Land Movement Updates.