50-foot by 20-foot section of bluff collapsed Sept. 1 in Encinitas

A section of beach bluff collapsed in the Cardiff area of Encinitas on Sunday night, Sept. 1, but no injuries were reported, authorities said.

The section of bluff roughly 20-feet by 50-feet collapsed shortly before 8:30 p.m., said California State Parks Lifeguard Sgt. Jake Pflepsen. The site is about 50 yards south of tower 19, in an area referred to as the “North Day-Use”area, just north of the San Elijo campgrounds.

Officials warn beachgoers to stay several yards away from the naturally crumbling cliffs. They advise not setting up chairs or leaving items near the base of the bluffs, and to check the tide charts before taking a stroll — high tide could keep a person too close to dangerous cliffs.

The Encinitas collapse came a day after a chunk of the bluff along Torrey Pines State Beach fell Saturday, Aug. 31. No one was injured in that collapse either.

Both rock slides came about four weeks after a bluff collapse a few miles north in Encinitas left three women dead.

— Phillip Molnar is a reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune