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Yakima landslide continues, but state drops timeline for collapse

Geologists previously thought a full slide at Rattlesnake Ridge would happen by early March, but that timeline has come and gone.
Drone video shows the landslide on Rattlesnake Ridge on January 22, 2018. (Photo: Screenshot / DNR)

The Department of Natural Resources is no longer making a prediction as to when a landslide event at Rattlesnake Ridge could occur, according to a department spokesperson.

A massive crack along Rattlesnake Ridge near Union Gap in Yakima County emerged in October, and geologists had originally pegged a landslide event between late January and early March. However, that timeline is now off the table.

On March 19, the Yakima Valley Office of Emergency Management delivered an update on the slide statues, saying: "The slide mass continues to move south into the quarry at a constant rate that has remained nearly unchanged since January."

Emergency Management posted updated photos on their Facebook page:

Related: Blasting the Rattlesnake Ridge area is dangerous, WSDOT says

The slide slowed back down to a rate of 1.6 feet per week after previously speeding up by about a tenth of a foot per week, according to DNR spokesperson Joe Smiley. However, the rate of the slide can vary slightly across the ridge.

Yakima County, the city Union Gap, and the city of Yakima have all declared disaster in response to the slide.

Recent drone footage from DNR shows the growing crack along the ridgeline.

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