Massive Cliff Collapse on to San Diego Beach

Video ID: CPM0280

A stunning video captured the moment a massive chunk of cliff collapsed, cutting the beach below in half.

Kent Ameneyro was on Blacks Beach near La Jolla, USA, on Friday January 20 when he spotted rocks rolling down from the clifftop.

Over the course of six minutes, dramatic footage shows huge heaps of the rock break away before sliding down on to the sand below.

[zinniebee]

Incredible footage. Don’t think I’d be brave enough to walk up to the base like that so soon after that display!

[markgreene]

Stunning how the hillside pushed up the sand from below. Wow!

[daveswinington]

WOW, WOW, WOW!! How many times I've walked by that beach and never saw a collapse like that… So glad to have got it on film here… Thanks for sharing…

[allenra]

The layer of dark sand that pushed out at the bottom of the slide was what started the whole movement. All of the California coast is sea bottom sediments that have been pushed up by earthquake movements. When heavy rains come, like they have done this year, those layers get saturated and begin to come apart. This happened on a much larger scale on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the Los Angeles area. It was an upscale neighborhood that started out using septic tanks and drainfields instead of building sewers to carry the sewage away. On top of that, all of the estate homes had irrigated landscaping. All of the extra water caused an ancient landslide to reactivate and a couple of square miles of land started to move down into the surf. They spent billions of dollars to install drains and put in a sewer system in order to save the fancy homes. It still moves if they get enough rain, but not very fast or far. Eventually the ocean will take it all back from the land and the people will have to leave or drown.

[garyp.]

What is really amazing is the uplift of the ground at minute 3

[davide.b]

It's beautiful when you see how small we are compared to the wonders of Mother Nature

[jpaul]

This is a MUCH BETTER version than the dingleberry who couldn’t turn their phone sideways and film wide to catch this one-time event!

[vx]

Thank you for NOT making this a dum dum vertical video👍 I love you and you don't suck!

[TheOverlyHackeled]

All the canyon trails that lead through cliffs to the sea are gone now. We use to take them down to the beach in the ‘69’’.
“Too every season turn turn”

[stevewilliams]

I want to trust someone as much as this man trusted the spot he was standing in.

[Alan-zior]

Amazing footage - you absolutely did the right thing by stopping recording - and going somewhere safe / that cliff was totally unstable

[jenniferkleczka]

That was so cool to watch.
Not living in an area that experiences this kind of thing I have a couple of questions.
First how did they know this was about to happen so that they could be there to watch this and video it?
Second is this something that happens regularly?
Third, and this may be a dumb question, but has anyone found any cool dinosaur bones or any other fossils when something like this happens?
And lastly what causes things like this to happen?

Thank you for sharing. It was very interesting.

[mercury]

Seen the same video different person. This is the best video. Other person kept moving the camera side to side I heard the rocks falling but didn't see it falling

[menakles]

Watched this footage last night while a bit drunk. Woke up today and honestly thought I'd dreamt it.

[RosaWeber-lzfu]

El paisaje que conocemos desaparece cada día frente a nuestros ojos, como se pueden reir?

[cinemaipswich]

At the base of the rock fall, you can see the dark ground welling up, as if some pressure or seismic fault has happened. Perhaps the sub-ground pocket of water is pushing it up. I have not seen that before.

[GodsOath_com]

CA is just compacted sand dunes along the coast. You can see it as you fly over. Nothing should be built on any shoreline cliffs. Very unstable. Up in Humboldt too.

[cfccfc]

This guy is the one in the horror movies that hears a weird sound and immediately investigates it.

[michaelripley]

Amazing that the weight of it
are pushing the Beach up!!💯

[margaret-pbmt]

Scenes like this really make you think about the idea of “permanence”!