Shocking Video Shows Massive Boulder Smash Through Hawaii House, Barely Miss Homeowner

A video released to social media shows a large boulder smashing through a family’s home in Hawaii. The incident, which happened on Saturday, is the third of its kind to occur within 24 hours after a nearby development in Palolo began construction.

Palolo resident Caroline Sasaki had a near-death experience over the weekend when a massive boulder smashed through her home. Sasaki and other long term residents are blaming a recent development project that has begun on a mountain behind Sasaki’s home.

The boulder, which according to the Fire Department is five feet by five feet, can be seen on the video smashing through a cinder block wall into the house and then crashing through a second wall before coming to a rest in a bedroom. A car was damaged while at least four people were home at the time of the incident - luckily, no one was injured.

A massive boulder smashed through a home in Palolo Valley almost hitting the owner inside. @KHONnews #news#breakingnews#hawaii#khon2news pic.twitter.com/KGoVLXeaDJ

— Max Rodriguez (@maxrrrod) January 30, 2023

Long term residents of Palolo explained that boulders had not been rolling down the mountain prior to recent construction being carried out in the area.

“We lived in this same location. We just knocked down the old house and rebuilt it; and it’s never happened before, heavy rain and hurricane warnings nothing. So, no rocks ever came down,” Sasaki said, adding that they had just moved into the new home earlier that month. “We’ve had some issues with them carving the mountain, and I don’t know if that’s the cause.”

"Last night, I was very shaken," she told a local news station. "I really didn’t know what happened except for the loud boom."

A second homeowner had previously complained about a smaller boulder, about two feet by two feet, striking his property’s retaining wall.

The development’s owner, Bingning Li, told local news outlets that his project is to blame for the rolling boulders, explaining he had protective measures put in place for his development but admitted a preventative cable had snapped when it was struck by the massive rock, and failed to stop it.

“Not at all, this is from way above, I looked at one of those rocks about 50 feet away from on top of the property and landed over there and then made its way down here,” Li explained. "So it hit one of the cables that was supposed to stop it and the cable snapped. That took a lot of energy away otherwise this damage would be way more."

But Sasaki wants the government to step up and address the situation before more property gets damaged, or worse, someone gets hurt. “Department of permitting and planning, the Department of Emergency Management, the mayor, the councilman, they should all get involved because people’s lives are at stake,” she said.