06-02-2025
LA coastal area prone to landslides quickly inches into ocean every week, NASA finds
LA coastal area prone to landslides quickly inches into ocean every week, NASA finds
A Southern California coastal area long prone to landslides continues to inch toward the ocean at a rising speed posing danger to human life and infrastructure, a new NASA report shows.
The Palos Verdes Peninsula, a Los Angeles County area that juts into the Pacific Ocean, shifted around 16 inches toward the ocean during last fall, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Portions of the peninsula are part of an "ancient complex" that have been susceptible to landslides for more than 60 decades.
Between Sept. 18 and Oct. 17, NASA's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) captured the area shifting toward the ocean up to 4 inches a week. The area is expanding, largely thanks to the significant heavy rainfall brought by Hurricane Hilary in August 2023 and additional rainfall in early 2024.
The motion is also accelerating and impacting hundreds of buildings in local communities, according to the analysis conducted by JPL landslide scientist Alexander Handwerger.
"In effect, we're seeing that the footprint of land experiencing significant impacts has expanded, and the speed is more than enough to put human life and infrastructure at risk," Handwerger said in the NASA report.
NASA radar shows shift peninsula shift toward water
The lab shared an image created using the UAVSAR and illustrating the landslide direction gearing south into the Pacific Ocean within the four-week period.
The UAVSAR radar was used to estimate the landslide's speed and direction across three dimensions. The team planted the instrument onto a jet flown four times out of NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Kern County, California.
The image uses colors to indicate the landslide speed and direction, with dark red representing the highest velocity per week and light yellow representing the lowest.
It also includes arrows showcasting the direction of horizontal motion as well as white solid lines representing the boundaries of the active landslide area defined by the California Geological Survey in 2007. NASA's Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis also used data by the European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel-1A/B satellites.
The NASA lab has provided the data with California officials addressing landslides as well as the general public online at NASA's Disaster Mapping Portal.
What is the Palos Verdes Peninsula?
The Palos Verdes Peninsula is a coastal area in Los Angeles County known for popular surfing spots and stunning ocean views in Southern California.
The area consists of four cities, including Palos Verdes Estates, Randho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates.
