A popular road that cuts through the heart of Humboldt Redwoods State Park in far Northern California is closed “for weeks or more,” following a landslide that buckled pavement and jeopardized several old-growth redwood trees. The landslide is possibly the result of both heavy rain and a series of recent North Coast earthquakes.
The closure on Mattole Road, which went into effect early last week, starts about 1.5 miles west of the U.S. Highway 101 juncture. Drivers approaching on the west side of the road closure are advised to head west and north on Mattole Road toward Ferndale, then connect with U.S. 101 there.
“There is a large piece of land … more or less an entire hillside, that goes up to the ridgeline that is moving downslope, and so the road transverses across that hill slope and is moving with it,” Marnin Robbins, interpretive program manager with California State Parks’ North Coast Redwoods District, told SFGATE. “We don’t yet know the underlying cause.”
It’s believed the slide happened last Tuesday.
“It’s a very dramatic road,” Robbins described. “It goes along the Lost Coast, a really beautiful stretch, but [that is] highly geological unstable terrain that it goes over.”
While Robbins couldn’t definitively say whether the recent sequence of large earthquakes along the Northern California coast was a contributing factor, he confirmed that it’s “conceivable” the seismic activity played a role. Seismologists and engineers from Sacramento are expected to travel to the park on Wednesday to investigate a possible link between the events.
The first and largest earthquake to strike the area came at 2:34 a.m. on Dec. 20, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The magnitude 6.4 earthquake was centered off the coast about 10 miles west of Ferndale, California; afterward, two people were reported dead, and 12 were reported injured. Days later, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck near Rio Dell, California, on Jan. 1, just 7 miles from Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Scientists believe that the second quake was an aftershock of the December earthquake — of which there were many.
Both seismic events happened within 30 miles of the park.
Mattole Road has buckled pavement after a landslide, possibly the result of both heavy rain and a series of recent North Coast earthquakes.
Courtesy of California State ParksThe eastern portion of Humboldt Redwoods State Park — which includes the famous Avenue of the Giants, day-use areas and a visitor’s center — remains open. All parts of the park west of the road closure are off-limits to visitors.
Park officials have described the situation as “active,” warning the public of an ongoing landslide risk. “We haven’t been able to assess it because of the safety factor for our own staff,” Robbins said. “A number of trees have fallen, and the area impacted is roughly 90 acres in size, with several hundred old-growth redwood trees that are in harm’s way.”
Law enforcement continues to patrol the impacted area, which has a history of landslides.
“The thing that is tragic about this is that it happened in the heart of the old-growth redwoods,” Robbins said. He noted that there are now less than 5% of old-growth redwoods extant worldwide, with logging over the past 150 years the main reason for their disappearance. “Every tree that is still standing is valuable. … It’s part of the world’s heritage. It’s tragic when we lose any of those trees.”
It’s not yet known how many trees have fallen in the area, either from the rain or landslide. Humboldt Redwoods State Park is home to the largest collection of ancient redwoods on the planet, with old-growth redwood forest occupying about one-third of the 53,000-acre park.
Support Lumiserver & Cynesys on Tipeee
Visit
our sponsors
Wise (formerly TransferWise) is the cheaper, easier way to send money abroad. It helps people move money quickly and easily between bank accounts in different countries. Convert 60+ currencies with ridiculously low fees - on average 7x cheaper than a bank. No hidden fees, no markup on the exchange rate, ever.
Now you can get a free first transfer up to 500£ with your ESNcard. You can access this offer here.
Source link
