PACIFICA, Calif. -- Using his bare hands, Michael Keller knew he didn’t have much time to rescue a teenage girl who had been buried nearly up to her neck when tons of dirt and sand came crashing down from a Pacifica cliff to the beach below.

The landslide, reported just after 3 p.m. Saturday at Esplanade Beach, buried the girl up to her chest in dirt, according to North County Fire Authority spokeswoman Angelina Ciussi.

She was rescued by Keller, who saw it all happen from an RV park overlooking the beach. He dug the girl out from the dirt and brought her to safety before firefighters arrived.

"I ran down there and saw that she was buried from her chest down," Keller told KTVU. "I just kept digging and digging with my hands and my feet. She was breathing but she didn't say anything…She was dazed and confused."

Fire crews conducted a cliff rescue and provided on site medical assistance before rushing the girl to an area hospital, Ciussi said. The girl's injuries were moderate.

Two others on the beach at the time of the landslide were uninjured, having been able to dash from the falling dirt.

"I feel a little shaky right now," Keller said. "The adrenaline is still pumping…I think I did a good thing."

Vehicles at the Pacifica RV Park that hugs the broken hillside were relocated to a safe area, according to Ciussi.

The beach was closed and the hillside was being monitored in case more slides follow, she said.