Hawaii volcano latest: Giant new fissure opens, flinging ballistic rock and lava bombs into sky

A new giant fissure has opened in the Hawaii's Kilauea volcano blasting ballistic rock and lava into the sky.

Officials called for more evacuations as residents feared a potential major eruption at volcano's summit, as Hawaii County Civil Defence issued an emergency alert after its discovery.

Lava from the fissure, which measures about 1,000 feet (300 meters) long, led to an "unidentified structure" being destroyed - bringing the total number of homes and other buildings lost to the volcano to nearly 40.

Residents in the immediate area were told to evacuate and two nearby community centres were serving as shelters for people and pets.

Lava spread across hundreds of yards of private land and loud explosions rocked the neighbourhood not far from Leilani Estates subdivision, where more than a dozen other active vents have opened in the past week.

"I've actually seen rocks fly over the tree line and I can feel it in my body," said resident Richard Schott, 34. "It's like a nuclear reaction or something."

The US Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said new fissures, ground deformation and abundant volcanic gases indicate eruptions on the eastern flank of Kilauea are likely to continue.

"The appearance of the fissures in the past couple of days does not change the overall picture or concern," USGS scientist Steve Brantley said.

The US Geological Survey has reported nearly 20 active fissures.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported the fissures opened just east of the Puna Geothermal Venture energy conversion plant, where steam and hot liquid are brought up through underground wells to feed a turbine generator to produce electricity.

Plant workers removed 50,000 gallons (189,265 litres) of a flammable gas stored at the site as a precaution.

Geologists have warned that Kilauea's summit could have an explosive steam eruption that would hurl huge rocks and ash miles into the sky.

Most of the lava outbreaks have occurred in and around the Leilani Estates neighbourhood, where molten rock has burst through the ground, destroying more than two dozen homes and resulting in evacuation orders for nearly 2,000 people.

Agencies contributed to this report