LATERAL SUPPORT
If land is improved by buildings and an adjacent landowner’s excavation causes that improved land to cave in, the excavator will be liable only if he acted negligently
Strict liability does not attach to the excavator’s actions unless P shows that, because of D’s actions, P’s improved land would have collapsed even in its natural state. (For strict liability to apply, P must show that the improvements on his land {i.e. the shrubs, the fountain, the structures}, did not contribute to his land’s collapse.)