Homes Threatened As Road Gives Way

SAN DIEGO (AP) A four-lane road buckled Wednesday and sank slowly in a hilly upscale neighborhood, threatening several homes in San Diego. No injuries were reported. <br/><br/>Power lines fell and at least

Wednesday, October 3rd 2007, 1:35 pm

By: News On 6

SAN DIEGO (AP) A four-lane road buckled Wednesday and sank slowly in a hilly upscale neighborhood, threatening several homes in San Diego. No injuries were reported.

Power lines fell and at least four homes were evacuated, said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. Gas and power supplies were shut off.

The collapse shortly before 9 am left a ravine of crumpled pavement. Orange traffic cones and sections of big concrete pipes sat in the fissure slashing across the wide boulevard.

One home began to collapse, and at least seven other houses were in danger of being damaged, according to Gary Hassen, a San Diego Police Department spokesman. There were other homes at the bottom of the hill.

The sinkhole in the La Jolla neighborhood of million-dollar homes cut in a cone shape and was about 50 yards long.

About two hours after the collapse the situation appeared stable, City Attorney Michael Aguirre said.

Street cracking began in July and escalated in August, along with breaks in water and gas lines, the The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

City officials said Monday they were moving quickly to prevent catastrophic loss. They sent letters two weeks ago to alert residents and began knocking on doors Monday.

At least three significant hill slides have occurred in the area between 1961 and 1994, including a major failure in 1961 that destroyed seven homes under construction.