Rocks and dirt pile up on Malibu Canyon Road on March 7. Drivers should avoid driving through Malibu Canyon Road during rainy weather, Public Safety Director Susan Dueñas said. Photos by Millie Auchard
A large rock tumbles down a steep cliff onto the windy Malibu Canyon Road. An avalanche of smaller rocks and dirt follow. The sound of the rumbling rockslide reverberates through the Canyon.
During this season’s heavy rain, multiple rockslides have occurred on Malibu Canyon Road, Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Kanan-Dume Road threatening drivers’ safety, Public Safety Director Susan Dueñas said. Drivers should think carefully before driving through canyons in inclement weather, Dueñas said.
“The longer and harder the storm is, the worse it [the rockslide] gets,” Dueñas said.
Rockslides occur when a rock mass exposed on a slope or cliff can no longer sustain its weight, causing it to fall or slide into low-lying areas, wrote Stephen Frasher, L.A. County Public Works public information officer, in a March 9 email to the Graphic.
The breakdown of the minerals of a rock mass due to precipitation, water filtration, vegetation or disruptive root growth weakens a rock mass — causing it to fault or fracture, Frasher wrote. Natural slope erosion, earthquakes or human activities such as earthwork can contribute to rockslides, Frasher wrote.
“Rockslides are common in areas where geologic processes have caused the rock to be naturally weak or prone to weathering and fracturing,” Frasher wrote. “Especially in hilly or mountainous areas, and where rock masses are undercut by bodies of water, rivers, shorelines or roadways.”
Rockslides tend to occur in rainy weather, Frasher wrote. However, it is still important to drive with caution in the days following heavy rain because rockslides can also occur under sunny skies.
“The first hot day after a rainstorm is a common time for slides to occur,” Frasher wrote. “Most likely attributable to thermal expansion which could initiate a slide.”
Malibu Times reporter Samantha Bravo captured a video of a rockslide March 1. The video shows a person running from a barrage of rocks and dirt falling off a sloping cliff. The rockslide occurred on a sunny day following several days of rain.
CHP authorities closed both lanes at 2:51 p.m. today on Malibu Canyon near the tunnel. Road will be closed for 12 hours, according to CHP. pic.twitter.com/YFCLMleBpn
— Samantha Bravo (@samanthavbravo) March 2, 2023
“That’s a perfect example of how we need to all be careful on the roads in the canyons when it’s not raining anymore,” Media Information Officer Matt Myerhof said.
Senior Samy Dar said he fears driving through Malibu Canyon during and after rain.
Dar lives in Calabasas, so his commute to school requires driving through the Malibu Canyon. He said rockslides affect his ability to get to class and, thus, his grades.
“A lot of professors have attendance policies where you will lose points if you’re not there,” Dar said.
After two rockslides occurred in Malibu Canyon on March 15, Dar said he struggled to get to school. After arriving on campus that day, Dar said his professor cancelled class because of the rockslides.
The University routinely monitors road conditions surrounding the Malibu campus and regularly updates the University’s Road Conditions Hotline — 310-506-7623 — as needed, Jonathan Weber, director of Emergency Services, wrote in a March 24 email to the Graphic.
“We encourage all Pepperdine community members to utilize this valuable information tool,” Weber wrote.
Seaver College cancelled classes because of severe weather conditions Feb. 24, according to a Feb. 23 email from Emergency Services to the Pepperdine community. The University did not cancel classes March 15, after two rockslides occurred in Malibu Canyon.
“Today [March 15], it was a lot worse in terms of how dangerous things were on the roads and they [the University] just didn’t do anything about it,” Dar said.
Multiple factors guide the University’s decision to close campus, Phil Phillips, executive vice president of Administration and chief operating officer, wrote in an April 4 email to the Graphic. A campus closure is considered if two or more of the roads to Pepperdine — Malibu Canyon Road, Kanan-Dume Road, Topanga Canyon Road and PCH — are closed, Phillips wrote.
L.A. County Public Works and law enforcement agencies are responsible for determining if the roads are safe, Phillips wrote.
The closure of two or more roads does not always result in a campus closure, Phillips wrote.
“This is not a hard and fast rule, but rather an opportunity for a discussion given the facts and circumstances of the situation,” Phillips wrote.
If the University wishes to close campus, the President, Chief Operating Office and Provost will make the decision together and then inform the community, Phillips wrote.
Michael Feltner, dean of Seaver College, wrote in a March 27 email to the Graphic he encourages all students to check the Road Conditions Hotline before they leave their residences. Student should also allow additional time in their commutes to campus in case of a rockslide, Feltner wrote.
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Contact Millie Auchard via email: melissa.auchard@pepperdine.edu.
