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Jaw - dropping before - and - after planet images capture the magnitude of a monumental landslide along California ’s Big Sur coastline .
Thelandslide , which sent more than 1 million tons of rocks and dirt across California ’s scenic coastal Highway 1 , take place on the nighttime of May 20 . Before the immense rockfall , a smaller one occurred earlier in the spring .
Images taken by NASA’s Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8 reveal the extent of a massive landslide that has blocked off Big Sur’s Highway 1. On the left, an image taken prior to the landslide (April 20), in the middle, an image taken after a smaller landslide that preceded the current one (May 17), and on the right, an image of the bigger landslide (taken on May 22)
" This is a tumid slideway preface by smaller slide , which is not uncommon , " Thomas Stanley , a geologist and researcher forNASA , allege in a financial statement . “ Much of the California coastline is prone to collapse , so it ’s fortunate that this landslide happened in an unpeopled location . ”
The dramatic flop covered about 0.3 land mile ( 0.5 kilometers ) of the scenic byroad in 35 to 40 foot ( 10.6 to 13.7 meters ) of detritus . It also created 16 acres of country that jut out from the Big Sur coastline , the San Jose Mercury News report .
The monumental landslide was bewitch in images taken by the Operational Land Imager ( OLI ) on Landsat 8 , an Earth - observing planet work by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey . The before picture was captured on April 22 , while epitome of the smaller rock slide were taken on May 17 and the monumental slide was captured on May 22 .
The massive landslide could shut Highway 1 for a year , according to Caltrans , the California department of transportation system .
The area is still vulnerable to further landslide .
“ There ’s still little rock coming down and you may pick up it , " Susana Cruz , a Caltrans spokeswoman , enjoin the San Jose Mercury News .
Originally issue onLive Science .
