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Climate & Environment · North America

Waves speed erosion as Portuguese Bend shifts more than an inch weekly

City officials say land in Portuguese Bend, Rancho Palos Verdes, is moving more than an inch per week. Cracks reach 20 feet deep or a dozen feet wide, while city winterization measures held up during recent rainfall.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 2 outlets' reportingHow it's made

View timeline · 5 entries
2 outletsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Too few ratedL 0 · C 1 · R 1
Updat3 graphic: Portugal
Updat3 graphic · Map data: Natural Earth Natural Earth (public domain)

What happened

Key facts

  • Portuguese Bend in Rancho Palos Verdes is shifting more than an inch a week.
  • The latest acceleration followed mid-October waves fueled by a tropical storm that eroded the Southern California coast.
  • Some cracks in the landscape are as deep as 20 feet or as wide as a dozen feet.
  • City-installed wells that remove water from the ground have helped slow the movement.

The brief

Land in Portuguese Bend, Rancho Palos Verdes, is moving more than an inch each week, city officials said, while fissures in the area reach as much as 20 feet deep or a dozen feet across. City officials also said winterization measures, including filling large cracks, performed well during recent rainfall.

The accounts describe the current movement alongside a history of faster slides during wet periods. LAist reported that above-average rainfall in recent years accelerated movement in some locations to as much as 1 foot per week. That higher rate describes some places during earlier acceleration, not the current rate across the area.

The New York Post links the latest acceleration to waves driven by a tropical storm in mid-October, which eroded the Southern California coast. It also reports that city-installed wells remove water from the ground and have helped slow the landslide movement.

The two accounts differ in emphasis: LAist highlights rainfall and the city’s recent preparations, while the New York Post adds coastal erosion and the role of drainage wells. The fissures remain a striking measure of the ground’s instability even as city officials describe the winter preparations as holding up.

The city’s measures include filling large fissures; the wells address water beneath the ground. The reports describe these steps as having helped or performed well, but do not say that either has stopped the continuing movement.

The account of the latest acceleration ties it to coastal erosion after mid-October storm-driven waves, while the earlier faster movement is associated with above-average rainfall in recent years. These are distinct reported conditions: the sources do not establish that the waves caused every fissure or account for all of the land’s movement.

The immediate documented picture is therefore one of ongoing movement alongside measures intended to manage water and close cracks. City officials say the land is shifting at more than an inch per week; the available reported figures also show that some earlier movement reached as much as 1 foot weekly in certain places.

The fissures’ depth and width show the scale of visible ground damage, while the reported performance of winterization measures offers a specific account of how preparations fared during recent rainfall.

Why it matters

  • Residents and property owners in Portuguese Bend face ground movement exceeding an inch per week, with fissures reaching 20 feet deep or a dozen feet wide.
  • The reported mechanism includes water-driven movement: LAist says above-average rainfall accelerated movement in some locations to as much as 1 foot per week.
  • Coastal erosion is also part of the reported picture: the New York Post links the latest acceleration to mid-October, tropical-storm-fueled waves that eroded the Southern California coast.
  • City measures have included wells that remove underground water and filling large fissures; officials said the winterization measures held up during recent rainfall.

What to watch next

  • Whether city officials report continued movement above an inch per week in Portuguese Bend.
  • Whether city officials report how the wells that remove underground water affect movement.
  • Whether city officials say the fissure-filling winterization measures continue to hold up during rainfall.
  • Whether further coastal erosion follows the mid-October waves described by the New York Post.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
2 source articles · 2 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Too few rated· 1 Center · 1 Right
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 100%
Outlet political mix
Too few rated
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
1 outlet
1 outlet
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
2 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Limited coverage
  • Coverage is currently limited to 2 outlets.
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

4 framing differences · 1 uncorroborated claim · 3 information gaps
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 2 reports whose article text Updat3 read.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • LAist emphasizes above-average rainfall in recent years, the earlier acceleration to as much as 1 foot per week in some places, and city winterization measures.
  • The New York Post connects the latest acceleration to mid-October tropical-storm-fueled waves and notes that city-installed wells have helped slow movement.
  • The New York Post links the latest acceleration to mid-October storm-driven waves and coastal erosion; LAist describes rainfall as accelerating movement in earlier years.
  • City officials are the stated source for the current movement rate and the assessment of winterization measures; the New York Post separately reports the wells’ effect.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • City officials said the winterization measures “fared well” during recent rainfall.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • Neither account gives a count of residents or homes affected by the current movement.
  • Neither account quantifies damage to individual properties or states the cost of the city’s wells and winterization work.
  • The sources do not provide a single quantified movement rate for the whole area beyond the current figure of more than an inch per week; LAist’s figure of up to 1 foot weekly applies to some places during earlier acceleration.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. The landslide was first activated in August 1956, during grading for a housing development on the peninsula.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. In 2023, heavy winter rainfall brought renewed attention to ground movement on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
    Background · from our historical context
  3. Movement at Portuguese Bend accelerated.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  4. California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an emergency proclamation for the area in October 2024, making state assistance available.
    Background · from our historical context
  5. In mid-October 2026, tropical-storm-fueled waves eroded the Southern California coast near Portuguese Bend, preceding the ground movement described in the current report.
    Background · from our historical context

How we got here

In mid-October 2026, tropical-storm-fueled waves eroded the Southern California coast near Portuguese Bend, preceding the ground movement described in the current report.

Coastal erosion matters at this site because the Portuguese Bend landslide occupies a steep coastal slope on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, where changes at the slope’s lower edge can affect an already unstable mass. The landslide was first activated in August 1956, during grading for a housing development on the peninsula.

Original sources

2 articles from 2 outlets

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