The natural gas pipeline that ruptured on Saturday afternoon, temporarily closing the 5 Freeway and forcing thousands of people to shelter in place in Castaic, was likely caused by land movement, according to SoCalGas.
It happened at around 4:20 p.m. on Saturday near Ridge Route Road and Pine Crest Place, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department crews. They were called to the location after receiving reports of an explosion followed by a strong gas smell in the area.
Aerial footage showed natural gas rushing out of the pipe, kicking up clouds of dirt and sending them across all lanes of the busy I-5 in the midst of holiday travel traffic. All lanes were closed for several hours as SoCalGas officials worked to mitigate the leak.
On Monday, they said that their investigation into the break was ongoing, but that “significant land movement has been observed at the site of the break, and a preliminary inspection of the area by a geologist has determined this was the most likely cause of the pipeline break.”…