Massive rockfall and landslide near Valle Gran Rey

There was a major rockfall and landslide in the cliff of Teguergenche mountain towering over the harbour of Vueltas. The incident happened this afternoon and the unsurfaced access road to both the Argaga ravine (where the 'Fruit Garden' is located) and the resort of 'Finca Argayall' has been blocked by countless tons of debris. Some camper vans parked there narrowly escaped destruction. Three rescue helicopters were searching for signs of anyone trapped, but up to now there are no reports of any casualties. The video shows a huge plume of dust and even waves caused by the massive amount of rocks falling into Valle Gran Rey's harbour of Vueltas. A couple of diggers are on stand-by near the scene and the tough work of reopening the access road will begin as soon as it is deemed safe to do so. (Above video source: Esteban Perez)

UPDATE:

The Canarian government has activated the ''territorial emergency plan'' and additional teams from civil defence, Red Cross, police, etc., as well as search dogs have been sent to La Gomera from Tenerife and Gran Canaria.

The harbour beach in Vueltas has been closed.

Update Sunday night:

There seem to be no casualties after extensive searches by rescue teams with sniffer dogs did not find any traces. Thankfully there are no reports of missing persons, and the search teams have returned home. Specialist engineers have arrived in Valle Gran Rey who will assess the stability of the cliff and the debris before any work to clear debris can begin. In the meantime the area will be serviced by boat. The beach in Vueltas will remain closed temporarily.

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The administration of Vallehermoso, under whose jurisdiction the affected area falls, has announced that the access road to Argaga and Finca Argayall is to remain closed permanently and will now be given up as it has become too unstable and dangerous. This decision was taken in agreement with all the other relevant authorities. Geologists from INVOLCAN have spotted more cracks and splits in the face of the cliff that will probably lead to further rock material breaking off. In fact, locals are well aware of these cracks and the erosion of this mountain has been ongoing for millenia. The whole of La Gomera presents an erosion landscape.

There is now a proposal to rapidly build a small pier to service the area and this project has the support of La Gomera's government.

More information about the track to Argaga, with frightening stories of near misses and fatal rock falls can be found here... Read more...

                                                                    Image source: gomeraverde.es

View of the fallen material from one of the helicopters. Note the new coastline and the camper vans on right.

Video of spectacular rockfall last Saturday

The video above was posted by Ruben Martinez on his facebook page and shows the spectacular 'rock bombardment' of Vueltas harbour in Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera last Saturday. There had been a very heavy shower during the night before, but this rockfall occurred well before the thunderstorm on Saturday afternoon. The video only shows the end of the landslide and rocks had fallen for about the same length of time before. No damage was done as the fishing boats are moored well away from the spot where the rocks hit the water as the spot where the large lumps fell is known for such incidents. It was lucky though that no swimmers were in that part of the water, as sometimes people who're not aware of this danger zone swim out to there and snorkelling is also popular there. Swimming and sunbathing on the larger part of the beach toward the pier is safe, however, and that's where most people go. 

Some rocks also fell onto the track that leads out to Argaga and the 'Finca Argayal' where the meditation centre is situated and many people walk under that cliff every day. See previous post about the dangerous path: Death in Argaga (click). There's an even more spectacular video at the end of that post. 

It is important to bear in mind that during and even long after rainy weather (when the sun heats the rock and soil) the erosion landscape of La Gomera is more 'active' and that being near cliffs then is even more dangerous than normally, but bear in mind that the sign below was put up there for a reason and that the rocky side of the beach is rocky for the same reason:

Warning sign just before the area where the rocks fell last Saturday