Lava, toxic gas spew from new fissure around Kilauea volcano

Emergency authorities battling lava flows and gas erupting from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano told some residents to "go now" as a new fissure opened and more structures were destroyed.

Kilauea has destroyed more than two dozen homes and forced some 2,000 people to leave their residences since it erupted on Thursday, spewing lava and toxic gas from volcanic vents in a small area of Hawaii's Big Island.

A new fissure opened on Sunday night in the Leilani Estates area less than 20 kilometresfrom the volcano, prompting a cellphone alert for residents to leave homes to avoid sulfur dioxide gas, which can be life threatening at high levels.

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

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

"My house is right in the middle," said Wilson, who turned back in his car when he saw steam coming from cracks in the road ahead. The semi-rural wooded area of Leilani Estates had become a magnet for newcomers to Hawaii's Big Island who were prepared to risk living near to an active volcano in return for more affordable real-estate prices.

As of 3:30 a.m. local time Monday (9:30 a.m. ET), 161 people were housed at two evacuation centres on the island, the Hawaii Civil Defence Agency said.

Eruptions of lava and gas were expected to continue, along with aftershocks from Friday's magnitude 6.9 earthquake, the largest in the area since 1975, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

The observatory's website showed 142 earthquakes in the past 24 hours as 3:45 a.m. local timeMonday (9:45 a.m. ET).

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Geologists said the activity looked like an event in 1955 when eruptions continued for 88 days in the area and covered around 1.600 hectareswith lava.

Jessica Gauthier, 47, said she and other local realtors had seen vacation renters cancel their reservations, even though the volcanic activity is confined to a relatively isolated area far from tourist centres.

"There's no way to know that if you're sitting in your living room in Ohio and watching the national news," she said. Gauthier predicted business would pick up as a new kind of visitor beginsto appear.

"Within a month, we'll start getting lava tourists," she said of people who come to Hawaii to see its active volcanoes.

Hawaii County authorities requested lava watchers keep away.

"This is not the time for sightseeing. You can help tremendously by staying out of the area," the civil defence agency said in a statement.