50th Anniversary of Mauna Loa's Most Spectacular Eruption Ka`apuna flow enters the sea June 2, 1950

June 1, 2000 - the 50th anniversary of Mauna Loa's most spectacular eruption! The 1950 eruption was the largest and most spectacular historical eruption from the southwest rift zone of Mauna Loa. It was especially noteworthy, for lava was erupted from a nearly continuous 20-km-long fissure along the middle portion of the rift. One of the significant things about this eruption was that the flows reached the sea in less than four hours. The eruption began on June 1, 1950. It followed the summit eruption of 1949 by almost one year, consistent with the pattern of flank eruptions succeeding summit eruptions within two years. On the 50th anniversary of the eruption, this article summarizes the high (and low) points of the eruption. DETAILS OF THIS MOST IMPRESSIVE ERUPTION Previous Feature Stories