LAND AVALANCHE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 283, 29 November 1937, Page 7

LAND AVALANCHE.

LOS ANGELES PERIL. Millions of Tons of Earth and Stone Moving. ENTIRE HILL SPLITS. United Press Association.—Copyright. LOS AXGELES, Xovember 28. A landslide which three weeks ago began moving one inch daily—carrying with it a hillside comprising two city squares and threatening a row of buildings, a highway, a viaduct and the Los Angeles river beds—on Friday rumbled 13£ inches onward and badly frightened the neighbouring inhabitants, in spite of the roping off of the endangered district. Millions of tons of earth and stone threaten to cover a wide area. Friday's movement precipitated rocks the size of motor cars, causing an earthquakelike tremor and covering many streets deep in muddy slush. Several movie studios had day and night camera crews posted to film the landslide as it became fully loosened. The entire hill, estimated at 3,000,000 tons of debris, finally split off in two sections on Friday' night and crashed down, covering Riverside Drive, cutting off the electric lines and destroying the water mains, but stopping at the doorsteps of endangered buildings. A sheer cliff 150 feet high remains where the hill was torn off from the terrain. Thousands of spectators viewed the spectacle. Hundreds of policemen are guarding the locality. Awed crowds all day watched rocks, earth and trees tumbling down the mountainside. Geologists fear a second avalanche more serious than the first. The damage so far is estimated at 200,000 dollars. A further collapse would be practically certain to destroy a bridge which cost 3,000,000 dollars.