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PHOTOS: Hawaii volcano Kilauea cuts slow-moving path of destruction

In this photo taken from video an unidentified man gets close to a lava flow advancing down a road in the Leilani Estates subdivision near Pahoa on the island of Hawaii Monday, May 7, 2018. Kilauea volcano has destroyed more than two dozen homes since it began spewing lava hundreds of feet into the air last week, and residents who evacuated don’t know how long they might be displaced. 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. (Scott Wiggers/Apau Hawaii Tours via AP)
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In this Sunday, May 6, 2018 photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, a Hawaii Volcano Observatory (HVO) geologist collects samples of spatter for laboratory analysis in the Leilani Estates subdivision near Pahoa on the island of Hawaii. Kilauea volcano has destroyed more than two dozen homes since it began spewing lava hundreds of feet into the air last week, and residents who evacuated don't know how long they might be displaced. 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. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)
In this Sunday, May 6, 2018 photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, USGS scientists monitoring the eruption of Kilauea volcano in Leilani Estates walk past spatter that erupted from a fissure on Leilani Avenue,  in the Leilani Estates subdivision near Pahoa on the island of Hawaii. Kilauea volcano has destroyed more than two dozen homes since it began spewing lava hundreds of feet into the air last week, and residents who evacuated don't know how long they might be displaced. 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. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)
Kilauea volcano erupts, Friday, May 4, 2018, in Kalapana, HI.  There are no immediate reports of major damage after a large earthquake struck Hawaii's Big Island near a volcanic eruption that has forced residents to evacuate from their homes. Hawaii National Guard spokesman Maj. Jeff Hickman says the Hilo airport and the highways didn't sustain any damage from Friday's magnitude-6.9 quake. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
In this still frame taken from video, lava flows toward a home in the Puna District as a result of the eruption from Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii's Big Island, Friday, May 4, 2018. The eruption sent molten lava through forests and bubbling up from paved streets and forced the evacuation of about 1,500 people who were still out of their homes Friday after Thursday's eruption. (Byron Matthews via AP)
In this still frame taken from video, lava flows over a road in the Puna District as a result of the eruption from Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii's Big Island Friday, May 4, 2018. The eruption sent molten lava through forests and bubbling up from paved streets and forced the evacuation of about 1,500 people who were still out of their homes Friday after Thursday's eruption. (Byron Matthews via AP)
In this Friday, May 4, 2018, image released by the U.S. Geological Survey, shows fissure 3 at Leilani and Kaupili Streets in Leilani Estates subdivision at 8:07 a.m. HST near Pahoa, Hawaii. The Kilauea volcano sent more lava into Hawaii communities Friday, a day after forcing more than 1,500 people to flee from their mountainside homes, and authorities detected high levels of sulfur gas that could threaten the elderly and people with breathing problems. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)
PAHOA, HI - MAY 5: In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, a panoramic view of a fissure errupting lava from the intersection of Leilani and Makamae Streets after the eruption of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano on May 5, 2018 in the Leilani Estates subdivision near Pahoa, Hawaii. The governor of Hawaii has declared a local state of emergency near the Mount Kilauea volcano after it erupted following a 5.0-magnitude earthquake, forcing the evacuation of nearly 1,700 residents. (Photo by U.S. Geological Survey via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The eruption of Hawaii’s famed Kilauea volcano spewed lava hundreds of feet into the air, destroying dozens of homes in a subdivision on the eastern edge of Big Island and forcing more than 1,700 people from their homes.

The lava, along with toxic gas and steam, have been bursting through fissures in the ground opened up by the volcano’s eruption. The lava has so far spread across 387,500 square feet. It’s a slow-moving path of destruction but geologists say they don’t know when the lava will stop flowing or how far it will spread.

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