The ground seems to be shifting before our eyes’: Power outages spread in California community as land movement endangers power lines.

 Damage caused by land movement has been observed near the Portuguese Bend Community in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, where an evacuation warning was issued, and power was cut on Sunday.

(CNN)- More than 200 homes near Los Angeles are set to lose power by the end of the day on Monday due to ongoing ground shifts that threaten utility lines in the area.

“This is unprecedented,” said Rancho Palos Verdes City Council member Barbara Ferraro on Sunday. “No one really knows what to do.”

Southern California Edison (SoCal Edison) disconnected electricity to 140 homes in the Portuguese Bend community on Sunday. The outage is indefinite, as the shifting ground poses a danger to utility poles and increases the risk of fires in the city.

“There was a fire last week,” said SoCal Edison spokesperson Kathleen Dunleavy to CNN affiliate KABC. “It was a small fire, but it was caused by one of our lines falling due to land movement, highlighting the dangers of this area.”

SoCal Edison has also notified an additional 105 customers that they will lose power on Monday evening as the company continues to monitor the situation.

Utility trucks gather in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, as land movement in the area poses a threat to the power supply.

Rancho Palos Verdes, located on the coast of southwestern Los Angeles County, just west of Long Beach, became an independent city in 1973. 

According to officials, the land in Rancho Palos Verdes has been gradually shifting for decades, but the situation has significantly worsened recently. "The movement has accelerated dramatically over the past year, with some areas now shifting up to 10 inches per week," said City Council member David Bradley. "You can almost see the ground moving."

To urge cautious residents to follow evacuation orders, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna announced that law enforcement is increasing patrols in the area and deploying drones to monitor for looting. "If you come here to steal, you're going to jail," Luna stated during a Sunday news conference.

Rancho Palos Verdes has been under a local state of emergency since October 2023, and natural gas service in the Portuguese Bend neighborhood was shut off on July 29.

Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn announced on Sunday that Los Angeles County has allocated an additional $5 million to address the disaster. She expressed hope that Governor Gavin Newsom will declare a state of emergency for Rancho Palos Verdes.

"Although this landslide has been progressing for decades, the current rate of acceleration is unprecedented and requires increased support from both the state and federal government," Hahn stated.

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