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Rockfall closes Yosemite trail near Half Dome

The Associated Press

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. ” Officials say no one was injured in a giant rockfall near Yosemite National Park’s iconic Half Dome, but it did close a trail.

The tumbling boulders unleashed so much fury before daybreak Saturday that it registered as a magnitude-2.5 earthquake. The debris fell into Tenaya Canyon and buried the southern portion of the Mirror Lake loop trail.

The park’s geologist said the rockfall was reminiscent of one in 1996 that created an air blast that felled thousands of trees, killing one tourist.



Geologist Greg Stock said the avalanche at 5:26 a.m. from Ahwiyah Point was the largest in 10 years, surpassing the October event that forced the park to permanently close part of Curry Village.

Rockfall is the most powerful force of nature altering the park’s topography.


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