A landslide sent 18 luxurious homes crashing down a hill in Southern California early Wednesday as homeowners alarmed by the sound of walls and pipes coming apart ran for their lives in their nightclothes. At least four people suffered minor injuries. About 1,000 people in 500 other homes in the Blue Bird Canyon area were evacuated as a precaution. In addition to the destruction of 15 to 18 houses — all of which were worth millions of dollars — homes were damaged and a street was wrecked when the earth gave way around daybreak in the Orange County community about 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles. (From Fox news)
The neighborhoods have been hit before by landslides (From CNN News):
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The Bluebird Canyon Landslide in Laguna Beach, California was reactivated in March 1978 following several years of severe drought. Homes were unknowingly constructed upon the ancient landslide during the 1950s and 60s. The landslide destroyed 24 homes.