Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano has destroyed 26 homes and spewed lava hundreds of metres into the air, leaving evacuated residents unsure how long they might be displaced.

In revised figures released on Sunday, officials said another four unspecified structures were covered by lava. The ruined homes were in Leilani Estates, in the island’s eastern Puna district, where molten rock, toxic gas and steam have been bursting through openings in the ground.

Some of the 1,700 residents who have been evacuated were allowed briefly to return to their homes to gather medicine, pets and other necessities. Officials say residents will be able to return each day until further notice as authorities monitor which areas are safe.

Amber Makuakane Kane, 37, a teacher, said her three-bedroom house in Leilani Estates had been destroyed by lava. The dwelling was situated opposite a fissure that opened on Friday. “There was some steam rising from all parts of the yard, but everything looked fine,” Makuakane said.

She received alerts on Saturday from her security system that motion sensors throughout the house had been triggered. She later confirmed that lava had covered her property.

Play Video 0:41 Aerial footage shows volcanic lava destroying homes in Hawaii – video

Makuakane grew up in the area and had 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.”

Lava has spread approximately 36,000 sq metres around the most active fissure, though the rate of movement is slow. 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,” said Wendy Stovall, a US Geological Survey (USGS) volcanologist.

Cherie McArthur wondered what would become of her macadamia nut farm in Lanipuna Gardens, another evacuated neighbourhood near Leilani Estates. One of the year’s first harvests had been planned for this weekend.

“If we lose our farm, we don’t know where we’re going to go. You lose your income and you lose your home at the same time,” said McArthur, who has had the farm for about 20 years. “All you can do is pray and hope and try to get all the information you can.”



About 250 people and 90 pets spent Saturday night at shelters, the American Red Cross said. The number of lava-venting fissures in the neighbourhood grew overnight from eight to as many as 10, said Stoval. Although some fissures have calmed at various points, USGS scientists expect fissures to keep spewing lava. The lava could eventually be channeled to one powerful vent while others become dormant, as has happened in previous Hawaii eruptions, said Stovall.

Kīlauea (pronounced kill-ah-way-ah) is one of the world’s most active volcanoes and has been erupting continuously since 1983. The USGS’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory issued a notice in mid-April that there were signs of pressure building in underground magma and that a new vent could form on the cone or along what is known as the east rift zone. Leilani Estates sits in the zone.

The crater floor began to collapse on Monday, triggering earthquakes and pushing lava into new underground chambers that carried it towards Leilani Estates and nearby communities. A magnitude-6.9 earthquake, Hawaii’s largest in more than 40 years, hit the area on Friday. It set Michael McGuire’s car rocking in his driveway near Leilani Estates, knocking objects off his shelves and shattering glass in his cabinets.

McGuire hoped to check on his home on Sunday but realised it was too soon to be sure when, or if, it would be safe from the moving lava. “I’m somewhat fatalistic: if it happens, it happens,” he said. “And I’m enjoying life here, so you know, you put up with a lot of things here. This is one of them.”

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts – in pictures Read more

Noah and Laura Dawn own a retreat centre about three miles downhill from the most active vents. They were clearing out belongings on Sunday and relocating up the coast indefinitely. “We’re just removing all things of value to us and precious things because I have the feeling it could get real – real, real fast,” Noah Dawn said.

Kīlauea has been continuously erupting since 1983. In 2014, lava burned a house and smothered a cemetery as it approached Pahoa, the town closest to Leilani Estates. But this flow stalled just before it reached Pahoa’s main road.

Nearly 30 years ago, over a period of about a year, lava slowly covered the entire town of Kalapana, also in the Puna district.