KTLA

Hillside collapses under historic building in San Clemente; rail travel halted

The hillside under a historic building in San Clemente collapsed early Thursday, affecting train traffic in the area.

Dirt and debris could be seen coming down the hillside below Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, located at 415 Avenida Granada.

The house, which sits on a bluff just north San Clemente Pier, had already suffered cracks to its terrace, but things got much worse overnight.

The collapse occurred around 1 p.m., and some of the debris that came down landed close to train tracks in the area that had just reopened earlier this month.

As a result, Metrolink closed the tracks out of an abundance of caution, the Orange County Transportation Authority said in a news release.

Casa Romantica was also closed because of the incident.

Drilling was being done in the area, but a city engineer told KTLA that he does not believe that led to the collapse.