Laguna Beach Landslide - June 1, 2005

Landslide in Laguna Beach, Orange County,California: Landsliding has occurred in Bluebird Canyon, an area of notable historic slope failures.   The following links provide information about work done by CGS in response to those past landslides.   A list of geologic references is also provided.   We will post more information regarding this recent landslide when it becomes available.          

CGS Links:

California Geology article:   Bluebird Canyon Landslide of October 2, 1978, Laguna Beach, California. (PDF)

CGS response per Governors Office of Emergency Services (1997-98).

Seismic Hazard Map - Laguna Beach Quadrangle (1997/revised 2001). (PDF)

State Mining and Geology Board:   Special Advisory on California Landslides and Debris Flow Hazards. (PDF)

CGS Note 33 - Hazards From "Mudslides"...Debris Avalanches and Debris Flows in Hillside and Wildfire Areas.

CGS Note 50 - Factors Affecting Landslides in Forested Terrain. (PDF)

Other references

Cann, Lawrence R., and Steiner, Edward A., 1991, Landslides in southern California - an overview of investigation techniques, in Abbott, Patrick L., and Elliott, William J., editors, Environmental Perils, San Diego Region: San Diego Association of Geologists, p. 145—160.  

Leighton, R. Beach, Cann, Lawrence R., and Poormand, Iraj, 1986, Emergency repair operations for the Bluebird Canyon Landslide of October 2, 1978, in Ehlig, Perry L., editor and compiler, Landslides and landslide mitigation in southern California:   Geological Society of America Cordilleran Section, guidebook and volume, p. 35-43.

Leighton, R. Beach, 1982, Geotechnical origin and repair of the Bluebird Canyon Landslide, Laguna Beach, California, in Jennings, Paul C., and Brooks, Norman H., editors and chairmen, Proceedings of a symposium - storms, floods, and debris flows in southern California and Arizona 1978 and 1980: National Technical Information Service report #PB82-224239, p. 335-346.

Leighton, F. Beach, 1980, Bluebird Canyon landslide, Laguna Beach – a threshold event, in Coats, Donald R., and Vitek, John D., editors, Thresholds in Geomorphology, George Allen & Unwin, Publishers, p. 387-400.

Miler, Russell V., and Tan, S.S., 1979, Bluebird Canyon landslide of October 2, 1978, Laguna Beach, California: California Geology, vol. 32, no. 1, p. 5-7.

Morton, Paul K., and Miller, Russell V., 1981, Geologic map of Orange County: California Division of Mines and Geology [California Geological Survey] Miscellaneous Map 7, scale 1:48,000.

Schoellhamer, Jack E., Vedder, John G., Yerkes, Robert F., and Kinney, D.M., 1981, Geology of the northern Santa Ana Mountains, California:   U.S. Geological Survey, Professional Paper 420-D, 109p.

Sydnor, Robert H., 1979, Bluebird Canyon Landslide, Laguna Beach, California, in Fife, D.L, editor, Geologic Guide of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and adjacent regions of southern California:   American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Pacific Section Guidebook # 46, 25-37.

Tan, S.S., and Edington, William J., 1976, Geology and engineering geologic aspects of the Laguna Beach Quadrangle, Orange County, California: California Division of Mines and Geology [California Geological Survey] Special Report 127, 32 p., map scale 1:12,000.

Tan, S.S., 1979, The Bluebird Canyon Landslide, Laguna Beach, California – a case study, in Weber, F. H., Treiman, J.A., Tan, S.S., and Miller, R.V., editors Landslides in the Los Angeles region, California – effects of the February-March 1978 rains:   California Division of Mines and Geology [California Geological Survey] Open-File Report 79-4LA, p. 224-233.