From 7News Au

Three women killed when a Southern California sea cliff collapsed were members of a family gathered to celebrate one of them surviving breast cancer.

Anne Clave, 35, and her mother, Julie Davis, 65, died at hospitals after tonnes of sandstone were unleashed on Friday at Grandview Beach, the San Diego County Medical Examiner said.

A family email obtained on Saturday by KNSD-TV identified the third victim as Elizabeth Cox, Clave’s aunt.

The victims were part of a family gathering celebrating Cox surviving breast cancer, the email said.

Cox died instantly at the scene, the email said. Her age wasn’t given.

Clave “enriched the lives of all those around her with the joy and fun she brought to all,” the email said, and Davis was an “incredible grandmother”.

The three women leave behind spouses, children, and many members of their extended families, the news station reported.

“The nature of the accident and the loss is incomprehensible to all of us, our children and those around us,” the email said.

Officials on Saturday reopened much of the popular surf beach that was closed following the tragedy.

Encinitas Lifeguard Captain Larry Giles said a lifeguard was posted near the collapse zone, which is still marked by yellow caution tape. Someone left a bouquet of flowers on a nearby rock.

A ten metre long slab of the cliff plunged onto the sand on Friday afternoon north of downtown San Diego.

Geologists were on scene Saturday assessing the area around the collapse zone. Homes on top of the cliff were in no immediate danger, Giles said.

For more on this story go to; https://7news.com.au/news/disaster-and-emergency/three-killed-in-california-cliff-collapse-c-381618