BIG ISLAND, Hawaii -- Lava pouring through a neighborhood in Hawaii has already destroyed dozens of homes and it is not over yet.

  • 26 homes destroyed
  • More than 1,700 people evacuated
  • Experts don't know when fissures will end

Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and now it is wreaking havoc on the people who live around it.

Lava pouring through the area has already destroyed 26 homes.

So far, more than 1,700 people have been evacuated.

As of Sunday, 10 fissures had opened up in the Leilani Estates subdivision.

Fissures are pressure build-ups in the ground causing molten rock, toxic gas and lava spewing out.

"It was bionic, really orange, splattering about 4 feet tall," Steve Gebbie, a Hawaiian resident, described. "The highest splatter I saw personally was about 60 feet tall."​

Fissures have been opening around ​the Big Island in Hawaii since last week after a series of strong earthquakes hit the island. On Friday, a 6.9 magnitude quake became the largest one in more than 40 years on the island.

Experts say there is really no way to predict how long the fissure activity will last. In the past, episodes like this have lasted months to years.