Carbon Canyon Rock Slide from Quake

UPDATE, WEDNESDAY 2 APRIL 10:00 A.M.  Don't forget, as noted in the alert below, that Carbon Canyon Road will be closed from 9 p.m. on Friday the 4th through 4 a.m. on Monday the 7th as work continues on areas where rock slides occurred from the recent earthquake.  It is possible the schedule could change, but this is the plan to date.

UPDATE: MONDAY, 9:15 P.M.  The latest from the City of Chino Hills came this evening just before 6 and is this:

Caltrans has been working on the roadway and hillside in Carbon Canyon.  The road is tentatively scheduled to open in the morning on Tuesday, April 1^st.  Unpredictable events, such as rain and aftershocks, could change the plan.  The City of Chino Hills will make every effort to provide an update by 6:00 am with the current status of the road.  

Carbon Canyon Road will be CLOSED AGAIN on Friday, April 4th at 9pm and will remain closed all weekend with a scheduled opening of Monday, April 7th at 4am. This second closure will allow Caltrans to complete necessary road and hillside repairs.  Again, the schedule is subject to change.  Encourage others to subscribe to receive notifications at www.chinohills.org/enotify.

So, if work is not affected by weather or further seismic activity, the busy commutes return in the morning.  The weekend will bring additional work to the affected areas with a full reopening to take place next Monday.

Please note the disclaimer that plans could change.

UPDATE:  SUNDAY, 4:00 P.M.  The City of Chino Hills sent an announcement today concerning the continued closure of Carbon Canyon Road.  Here's the important news:

Carbon Canyon Road is blocked west of Olinda Village due to a landslide.  It is closed indefinitely.  It will NOT BE OPEN for the Monday morning commute.  Caltrans estimates that it may be closed through Wednesday and they will notify City officials when conditions are safe to resume travel through the Canyon.  

While it is spring break for Chino Hills and other schools and traffic could be lessened this week, commutes might still be pretty heavy for nearby routes, especially the 91 and 57 freeways, as well as for Grand Avenue, so allow extra time to get to and from the OC if the closure lasts through the first three workdays of the upcoming week.

UPDATE:  SATURDAY, 8:30 P.M.  It is being reported that CalTrans hopes to have one lane only of Carbon Canyon Road opened by Tuesday and that a contractor hired to work on the rock slide problem is looking to Wednesday, though whether this is for a total or partial reopening was not stated.

A photo and brief description of the minor injury accident involving a car that was overturned by last night's rock slide, following the 5.1 earthquake centered near Brea and La Habra can be found here.

More photos of the Carbon Canyon Road rock slide and accident in a gallery of over 40 images of last night's quake aftermath in the OC Register can be found here.

UPDATE: SATURDAY, 12:20 P.M.  New developments on the slide area west of Olinda Village along Carbon Canyon Road, include that CalTrans is awaiting a geologist to look at the steep slopes in the area between Olinda Village and the Chino Hills State Park Discovery Center and determine that it is safe before removing slide material and getting the road prepared for reopening.

It is also being reported that a total of three slide area have been found in this vicinity.

An update from the City of Chino Hills is due at 6 p.m. and any other information will be posted. 

Those who use Carbon Canyon Road, however, should be prepared for the possibility of at least a few days of closure, including some of the upcoming work week--tempered, though, by the fact that some schools (including in Chino Hills) are on spring break.



CalTrans crews, including one scaling the hillside at upper left, inspecting the area where a rock slide, caused by the 5.1 earthquake centered in northwest Brea on Friday night, caused a car to overturn leading to minor injuries and forced the closure of Carbon Canyon Road.  As of Saturday night, the highway remains closed.  Photo supplied by Glenn Parker.

UPDATE: SATURDAY, 9:20 A.M.  A new alert from the City of Chino Hills has been issued that Carbon Canyon Road will be closed today and probably overnight because of the rock slide that took place just west of Olinda Village, in an area where netting was installed a few years back on a sensitive slope.

It is being said that the road could actually be closed for several days, meaning that morning commutes during the upcoming week could be very interesting on other east-to-west routes.

Finally, it was reported that there was an overturned car in the slide area, likely a vehicle hit by the slide.  Hopefully, those inside were not badly hurt.

UPDATE:  11:05 P.M.  From the Chino Hills emergency notification service sent about 20 minutes ago:

Carbon Canyon Road is closed at the County line, west of Sleepy Hollow, due to rockslides west of Olinda Village. Caltrans estimates an extended closure.  An update will be prepared at 9:00 a.m. Saturday.

Some sources have indicated a slight downgrade in intensity to 5.1 on the quake.  This begs the question of what would happen to steep slopes within the canyon and on future development sites like Madrona, where unstable areas are known to exist, if there was a much stronger quake like the 8.0 plus we expect given that one hasn't happened in this region since 1857?  Recall that each point higher on the Richter scale represents an intensity 10 times greater.

UPDATE, 10:18 P.M.  Carbon Canyon Road is closed on the Brea side of Carbon Canyon, confirmed by a relative who was in Fullerton and had to go around via the 57 and 60 to get to the Chino Hills side of the Canyon. 

The earthquake, measuring about 5.3 centered a mile east of La Habra and near Brea and which occurred at about 10 after 9 p.m., has apparently generated a rock slide within Carbon Canyon, most likely the steep slopes west of Olinda Village.

A fire engine just rolled by heading west on Carbon Canyon Road towards that area and traffic has been light so far.

No alerts have been received by e-mail or text--so will keep checking to see what develops.