Between June 1 and June 23, 1950, a fissure erupted high on Mauna Loa's Southwest Rift Zone on Hawai‘i. Within 3 hours, ‘a‘ lava flows had crossed the main highway on the west coast, inundating the coastal village of Ho‘okena-mauka and creating huge clouds of steam on reaching the ocean. No-one was hurt, but lava flows destroyed a number of buildings and cut the highway in three places.