... back in 1960. Visiting the Big Island is very interesting -- in many locations outside Hilo there are signs posted letting you know of steam vents. Volcano National Park itself is amazing. In some locations you can see where people have left offerings to Madame Pele, the volcano goddess -- red flowers, hot spirits (i.e. gin and the like), and copper coins.

"The 1950 eruption was the largest and most spectacular eruption from the southwest rift zone of Mauna Loa since written records have been kept. It was especially noteworthy, for lava was erupted from a nearly continuous 20-km-long fissure along the middle portion of the rift zone. One of the significant things about this eruption is that the flows reached the sea in less than four hours."

On the night of June 1, 1950, after many residents of Ho`okena-mauka village in South Kona had already gone to bed, Mauna Loa began to erupt. Soon the roar of the lava fountains could be heard from Highway 11, 24 km (15 mi) away, as molten lava poured from fissures high on the volcano's southwest rift zone. In only three hours, an `a`a flow reached the highway and invaded the village. The streets were lit by flames as lava consumed several houses and the post office.

Thirty-five minutes later, the flow entered the ocean. By daybreak, lava flows had crossed Highway 11 in two places, cutting off the only escape route. The villagers all reached safety unharmed, but for some it was a close call.

Mauna Loa has erupted twice since 1950, with a one-day outbreak at the summit in 1975 and a three-week eruption on the northeast rift zone in April 1984.



http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/archive/2001/01_05_10.html