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    Land beneath Casa Romantica drops 10 feet, halts railroad service through San Clemente
    • April 28, 2023

    An already weakened bluff-top patio at San Clemente’s Casa Romantica cracked and fell about 8 to 10 feet down a hillside Thursday afternoon, April 27.

    After cracking had appeared April 16 in the property’s ocean-view terrace, the City Council had approved on Monday spending $75,000 for a local geological firm to assess the extend of a landslide.

    An already weakened pation at the back of the 2.5-acre Casa Romantica estate slipped another 8-10 feet Thursday afternoon while a geologic firm was drilling to get boring samples to study the extent of a growing landslide. (Photo courtesy of Steve Knoblock)

    An already weakened pation at the back of the 2.5-acre Casa Romantica estate slipped another 8-10 feet Thursday afternoon while a geologic firm was drilling to get boring samples to study the extent of a growing landslide. (Photo courtesy of Steve Knoblock)

    An already weakened pation at the back of the 2.5-acre Casa Romantica estate slipped another 8-10 feet Thursday afternoon while a geologic firm was drilling to get boring samples to study the extent of a growing landslide. (Photo courtesy of Steve Knoblock)

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    Crews from LGC Geotechnical Inc. had been drilling borings to install equipment in the ground to measure movement when the sandy earth began moving Thursday morning, said Councilmember Kevin Knoblock, who had been out to look at the damage to the patio at the back of the landmark.

    At 1 p.m., the smaller terrace began slipping and then dropped; with it came the hillside, Knoblock said.

    The drilling work had started Tuesday. Knoblock said crews from LGC were on site Thursday afternoon to continue to try and get better borings to assess the slide.

    The area had been cordoned off, and nobody was injured. The debris field did get close to the railroad tracks that run at the foot of the hillside and passenger and freight service between Laguna Niguel and Oceanside was stopped “in an abundance of caution,” officials with Metrolink and the Orange County Transportation Agency said.

    Service will only resume when it is determined safe, officials said. Updates can be found on the OCTA, Metrolink and Pacific Surfliner social media and website.

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    ​ Orange County Register 

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