A small rockslide occurred in the east end of Yosemite Valley at 10:20 p.m. last night.

No injuries or property damage were reported from last night's slide. Guests staying at Curry Village, a lodging area in the east end of Yosemite Valley, were awakened by the slide but were not evacuated. All visitor accommodations and facilities at Curry Village remain open to guests today.

National Park Service and United States Geological Survey geologists are assessing the recent slide area and release point again this morning by helicopter and on foot. A final assessment is expected sometime in coming weeks. Dog teams searched the slide area yesterday and confirmed that there were no other people killed in Sunday's slide.

Rockfalls and rockslides are common in the park and are a part of the natural geologic processes at work in Yosemite.  The rocks that make up present-day Yosemite formed deep within the earth and were later uplifted and exposed to the surface.  Exfoliation (expansion of rock due to the lower pressure at the earth's surface as opposed to the depths at which the granite formed), freeze-thaw cycles, the effects of growing tree roots, and the ongoing effects of chemical weathering are primarily responsible for the rockslides and falls.

http://www.nps.gov/yose/news/1999/rock0616.htm
File created/updated Friday, 21-Sep-01 19:07:45
Yosemite National Park Public Information Office