Erosion of rock cliffs has been considered to be relatively unpredictable. This perceived stochastic nature of the erosional processes often occurs through collapses along fractures in the rock-mass. The prediction of catastrophic cliff failures and collapses remains very difficult. For advancing in this field, it is important to understand the processes through which a crack is initiated, how it develops and propagates until the final failure. This paper examines the micro-seismic signals recorded 15 h prior to a rock-fall located at Mesnil-Val, France. The results lead to the hypothesis that several phases of failure mechanisms contribute to rock-fall occurrence. The most important phases were associated with micro-seismic event families identified by multiplet selection.