Southern California landslide tears homes off foundations, threatens to plunge 12 homes into canyon

A mudslide over the weekend prompted the evacuation of a dozen homes in a Southern California neighborhood that was at risk of collapsing into a canyon, authorities said.

The mudslide occurred Saturday in Rolling Hills Estates, a city about 25 miles south of Los Angeles.

Video tweeted by the Los Angeles County Fire Department showed homes on Pear Tree Lane, some with collapsed roofs and garages. Sidewalks and front lawns sustained significant damage, the video showed.

Janice Hahn, Chairman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, tweeted photos of the neighborhood and said: «Houses have been ripped from their foundations. The ground continues to move, but the evacuation order is still limited to these 12 homes.

In other cheepHahn said «there are homes here in Rolling Hills Estates that are physically leaning, like this garage, after the mudslide.»

Los Angeles County Fire Department and Rolling Hills Estates personnel were not immediately contacted Monday for updates on the damaged neighborhood.

Los Angeles reported that the landslide occurred at the northern end of the Palos Verdes peninsula. Sixteen people were displaced from their homes, the outlet reported.

The American Red Cross was helping displaced residents.

It is not clear what caused the landslide. But Pete Goodrich, a building official for Rolling Hills Estates, told NBC Los Angeles that excessive rain could have been the main factor.

Some homes that were not evacuated had their gas turned off to prevent accidents, Goodrich told The Associated Press.

The Associated Press contributed.