Updated May 07, 2018 22:05:39

The number of homes destroyed by Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has jumped to 26, with scientists saying lava is spewing more than 60 metres into the air.

Local officials said the decimated homes were in the Leilani Estates subdivision, where molten rock, toxic gas and steam have been bursting through openings in the ground created by the volcano.

Officials updated the number of lost homes after an aerial survey of the subdivision.

"That number could change," Hawaii County spokeswoman Janet Snyder said. "This is heartbreaking."

Photo: The dangers from the erupting Kilauea volcano continue to grow. (AP: US Geological Survey)

Emergency authorities battling the lava flows and gas eruptions told some residents to "go now" as a new fissure opened and more structures were destroyed.

Kilauea has forced 1,700 people to leave their residences since it erupted on Thursday (local time), spewing lava and toxic gas from volcanic vents in a small area of Hawaii's Big Island.

So far no fatalities or major injuries have been reported from the volcano, according to the Hawaii County Civil Defence Agency.

Amber Makuakane, 37, a teacher and single mother of two, said her three-bedroom house was destroyed by lava.

The home was across from a fissure that opened on Friday, when "there was some steam rising from all parts of the yard, but everything looked fine," Ms Makuakane said.

On Saturday morning, she received alerts from her security system that motion sensors throughout the house had been triggered.

She later confirmed that lava had covered her property.

Photo: Multiple new vents, or openings in the Earth's surface where lava emerges, have formed. (AP: US Geological Survey)

"They don't really understand," she said about her children. "My son keeps asking me, 'Mommy when are we going to go home?'"

A new fissure opened on Sunday night (local time) in the Leilani Estates area, about 19 kilometres from the volcano, prompting a mobile alert for residents to leave homes to avoid sulphur dioxide gas, which can be life threatening at high levels.

Ms Makuakane grew up in the area and lived in her house for nine years. Her parents also live in Leilani Estates.

"The volcano and the lava — it's always been a part of my life," she said. "It's devastating … but I've come to terms with it."

There was no indication when the lava might stop or how far it might spread.

"There's more magma in the system to be erupted. As long as that supply is there, the eruption will continue," US Geological Survey volcanologist Wendy Stovall said.

Photo: A plume of reddish brown smoke rises from Kilauea volcano. (AP: US Geological Survey)

Traditional Hawaiian beliefs say what happens next depends on Pele, the volcano goddess who is said to reside in Kilauea.

"You have to ask Pele," Steve Clapper said when asked whether he had any idea when he'd return to his Leilani Estates home.

Mr Clapper had to put his ailing 88-year-old mother into a car and left shortly after hearing an ominous rumbling behind the house.

"What can you do? You have no control over it," Mr Clapper said as he started his day at a nearby evacuation shelter. "Pele's the boss, you know."

About 240 people and 90 pets spent Saturday night at shelters, the American Red Cross said.

Evacuees from Leilani Estates were allowed to return for pets, medications and to check property on Sunday, but some found their homes surrounded by fissures that can be hundreds of feet long.

US Geological Service (USGS) scientists said they expected the fissures to keep spewing.

The lava could eventually be channelled to one powerful vent while others go dormant, as has happened in some previous Hawaii eruptions.

Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has been erupting continuously since 1983.

In mid-April the USGS's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said there were signs of pressure building in underground magma, saying a new vent could form on the cone or along what is known as the East Rift Zone, which includes the Leilani Estates area.

Photo: Lava spurted into the air during the eruption (AP: US Geological Survey)

The crater floor began to collapse last Monday, triggering earthquakes and pushing lava into new underground chambers that carried it toward Leilani Estates and nearby communities.

A magnitude-6.9 earthquake — Hawaii's largest in more than 40 years — hit the area on Friday.

Photo: Displaced residents hold a prayer before the start of a community meeting. (AP: Marco Garcia)

AP/Reuters/ABC

Topics: volcanic-eruption, disasters-and-accidents, hawaii

First posted May 07, 2018 14:31:36