Fast-moving lava from several fissures opened by Kilauea Volcano has crept toward clusters of homes on the eastern tip of Hawaii's Big Island as authorities ushered residents from the area as a precaution.
Evacuation of the Vacationland development and adjacent Kapoho community, rebuilt after a destructive eruption of Kilauea in 1960, came on the 28th day of what geologists rank as one of the biggest upheavals in a century from one of the world's most active volcanoes.
The Hawaii County Civil Defence agency issued the advisory as lava flows picked up speed late on Tuesday and on Wednesday and threatened to cut off a key traffic route into the seaside area on the far eastern flank of the volcano.
The numbers of people and homes affected by the evacuation were not immediately known.
They join about 2000 residents displaced due to lava flows and toxic sulphur dioxide gas emissions at the outset of the eruption nearly four weeks ago further west, in and around the Leilani Estates community.
Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim on Wednesday renewed an emergency proclamation for 60 more days, allowing construction of temporary shelters and other relief projects to proceed on an expedited basis, without reviews and permits normally required.
At least 128 structures on the island have already been destroyed, cut off or otherwise left uninhabitable by lava flows, Kim said.
Kilauea's main crater at the volcano's summit has continued to periodically belch ash high up into the sky but the National Weather Service says most of the ash is blowing out to sea then dissipating quickly.
Kilauea rumbled back to life on May 3, marking the latest phase of an eruption cycle that has continued nearly non-stop for 35 years.
