LA JOLLA, California, October 3, 2007 (ENS) - Early this morning a landslide occurred on Mt. Soledad, in La Jolla, opening a sinkhole as big as a football field beneath an upscale residential area and prompting the closure of Soledad Mountain Road. The affected area is between Desert View Drive and Palomino Circle, on the east side of Mount Soledad.

City officials said 180 homes were given evacuation calls via the City's Reverse 911 system. Homeowners had been warned Tuesday night to evacuate because the city geologist and a city consultant thought a landslide could occur at any time. Area residents had been complaining about cracks in the pavement since July.

San Diego Fire and San Diego Police evacuated 49 people from 55 homes. No injuries were reported. Nineteen homes were yellow-tagged, with residents permitted back inside just long enough to salvage important possessions.

At an afternoon news briefing, City Council President Scott Peters said nine homes have been declared uninhabitable. Electricity was initially shut off to a wide area, affecting approximately 2,500 customers, according to San Diego Gas & Electric.

The power was restored to all but about 100 customers by late afternoon. Natural gas has been shut off in the immediate area of the slide. Water has been shut off to 14 homes.

Several dozen homes are still under mandatory evacuation tonight and officials will inspect them to determine if and when residents can return.

Affected homes are worth in the neighborhood of $1.8 million and real estate prices had more than doubled in the past three years, until they slid to rock bottom today.

Area residents had been warned by the city that the hillside was unstable. Two weeks ago, city officials sent a warning letter to homeowners.

On Tuesday, workers went door to door with a letter telling residents in several houses that "you should not sleep in your homes effective immediately."

On Wednesday, workers were at the site doing tests when the hill began to slide.

Some 100 fire personnel were at the scene through much of the day, including members of the Urban Search and Rescue Team, eight fire engines and six ladder trucks.

San Diego Police, San Diego Gas and Electric, the city Water Department and City Engineer are also at the scene.

Geologists say that particular hillside is not stable due to an earthquake thousands of years ago that created Soledad Mountain. Landslides have occurred in the same area before. City engineering geologist Rob Hawk called it "a geologically active area."

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2007. All rights reserved.