Firefighters evacuated 11 homes after the boulder — estimated by some to be the size of a compact car — hit the rear of a single-story wooden house at 87-1428 M Akowai Road but did not penetrate it. No one was hurt in the 11 p.m. incident.

"There is a state parcel above where it fell and we will go see if it came from there," said Kevin Gooding, assistant state geologist. "It is very steep terrain. I don’t know how high I will get."

The state owns 96 acres of land above the homes, Gooding said.

Three families — 20 people in all — required help with housing from the Hawaii State Chapter of the American Red Cross, said Glenn Lockwood, director of disaster services. The rest were able to stay with friends or relatives, he said.

It wasn’t known this morning when residents would be allowed to return to their homes, he said. Evacuation last night seemed prudent and 39 people had to leave.

"It was the middle of the night and they couldn’t see the hillside and assess how serious the damage was," he said.

The homes are near the base of Pu'u O Hulu Uka, a hill between Nanakuli and Ma'ili. The area is near Ulehawa Beach Park.

Last night’s incident came three days after a boulder rolled down a hillside in Nu'uanu Valley and tore a hole in a house on Henry Street. A 1›-ton boulder barreled out of the tree line, smashed through a corner of the house and came to rest in a patio.

The ground at Akowai Place last night was muddy from recent rain. Deana Hamgoc, who lives next to the house that was hit, said it had been drizzling off and on all night.

Hamgoc said she was home with her family when she heard a loud rumbling.

"I thought it was my kids playing around," she said. Then she saw the boulder against her neighbor’s house.

Hamgoc, who has lived there for four years, said she has seen other rocks come down the hill but that last night’s was the biggest.

Another neighbor, Marla Flores, said she was lying in bed when she heard a loud rumbling that she took for thunder. Then she heard a "sliding sound," she said. Then a bang.

Flores said she had noticed a large boulder on the hill and thought "one day, that rock is going to come down." Other rocks also appear precarious, she said.

Monday’s accident in Nu'uanu happened on Henry Street, the same street where 26-year-old Dara Rei Onishi was crushed to death in 2002 by a 5-ton boulder that tore through her bedroom while she slept.

Onishi’s family is suing the owners of the property where they think the boulder originated.