Comments on: Rettig canyon

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:30:25 +0000

Thanks for that, Nancy. I need a copy of that folder.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 01:37:38 +0000

There was a landslide in the late 60′s/early 70′s and approximately 22 homes were lost — some sliding into Peralta Creek, near the 3000 block of Jordan Road. The homes that slid down the hill were situated on Kitchener Court (right side of the street going toward the Mormon Temple) and London Road, slightly below. Before the landslide, London Road was at very end of Maple Avenue (to the left) and you were able to drive down London Road and end up at Jordan Road. The road was never rebuilt. There is still a London Road street sign at the end of Maple Avenue! I’ve even noticed that some street maps still show London Road as it was before the slide. Over the years, I had heard about this landslide and went to the Oakland Library History Room, and found the “Oakland Landslides” folder and came across many articles from The Oakland Tribune about the Peralta Creek landslide.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 23:10:17 +0000

Thanks, Liz. By the way, the photo on your page does not show the Hayward fault, which doesn’t enter Tilden Park. See the viewer at http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/2006/177/HF_index.html

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:58:00 +0000

Hi, thanks for this wonderful post. I really enjoy reading your blog. Just wanted to let you know we shared a link to your blog on our website: http://www.totallyunprepared.com/2011/08/quake-hike-series-hayward-fault-hard-to-see-but-easy-to-find/

By: m. Carey

m. Carey — Fri, 20 May 2011 03:24:55 +0000

A large landslide occurred on the NW-facing slope between Norton and Rettig in February 1998. A 20-ft. high headscarp was located directly behind three houses along Norton; these houses had to be temporarily abandoned. The underlying bedrock on the southern slope is Leona “rhyolite”, which is very contorted and weathered. The slide involved several lots, and of course, it is always difficult to coordinate repairs among the various property owners. Google-earth photos show that there was some sort of stabilization done in June 2007.

I have not been in the creek itself, and therefore have never seen that nice contact with the green actinolite rock. You can see the red Leona in the photo you included in the post. I will brave the poison oak sometime and check it out.

By: donna gatts

donna gatts — Thu, 19 May 2011 12:50:56 +0000

Jordan follows the creek and at the end of the road, there is a smaller private.. road, as you walk along it and look to the left, the whole hill came down. There is a house, it was pink, on the left side, and atleast half of the hill under the house came down at some point. I havent been back to see if they have finished work on the house.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 16 May 2011 17:26:35 +0000

I looked at every place I could reach. If there’s a slide at the end of Jordan Road, it’s behind someone’s gate. The property lines in Google Maps suggest some rights-of-way in there, though.

By: donna gatts

donna gatts — Mon, 16 May 2011 08:59:53 +0000

Thats great! I love the area also. Have you been to end of Jordan, there was a huge landslide there as well, maybe at the same time as this one?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 06 May 2011 02:20:52 +0000

Thanks, Dennis. I must have first visited the canyon back in 2005, because I recall the work going on in the slide area. I’m pleased to see that the canyon didn’t suffer from that work, as the neighbors feared. The walls are ugly but probably as sound as these things can be built.

Seeing the little park at the foot of Rettig, obviously cared for by the residents, made me feel good.

As for development versus preservation, it probably won’t surprise anyone that I would favor very light and expendable development this close to the fault.

Mike, our local faults grind up the rocks between them, making them tend to erode easily. But the steady sideways stretching of the landscape also encourages the streams to get longer in the same direction as the fault. You’ll see this strongly on the map between San Francisco north to Cape Mendocino.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 06 May 2011 02:08:43 +0000

Do waterways have a tendency to follow faults? It seems to me that they do, as I often see offsets around a waterway.