Authorities in Hawaii ordered more residents to leave the Leilani Estates area as lave flows and gas eruptions from Kilauea volcano continued. Kilauea has destroyed 26 homes and forced 1,700 people to leave their residences since it erupted on Thursday, spewing lava and toxic gas from volcanic vents in a small area of Hawaiis Big Island. In revised figures Sunday, Hawaii County officials said another four unspecified structures were covered by lava. A new fissure opened on Sunday night in Leilani Estates, some 12 miles from the volcano, prompting a cellphone alert for residents to leave homes to avoid sulfur dioxide gas, which can be life threatening at high levels. So far no fatalities or major injuries have been reported from the volcano, according to the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency. Evacuees from Leilani Estates were allowed to return for pets, medications and to check property on Sunday, but some like Jeremy Wilson found homes surrounded by fissures that can be hundreds of feet long. "My house is right in the middle," said Wilson, who turned back in his car when he saw steam coming from cracks in the road ahead. The semi-rural wooded area of Leilani Estates had become a magnet for newcomers to Hawaiis Big Island who were prepared to risk living near to an active volcano in return for more affordable real-estate prices. Amber Makuakane Kane, 37, a teacher and single mother of two, said her three-bedroom house in Leilani Estates was destroyed by lava. The dwelling was across from a fissure that opened Friday, when "there was some steam rising from all parts of the yard, but everything looked fine," Makuakane said. On Saturday, she received alerts from her security system that motion sensors throughout the house had been triggered. She later confirmed that lava had covered her property. Makuakane grew up in the area and lived in her house for nine years. Her parents also live in Leilani Estates. "The volcano and the lava -- its always been a part of my life," she said. "Its devastating ... but Ive come to terms with it." Eruptions of lava and gas were expected to continue, along with aftershocks from Fridays 6.9 magnitude earthquake, the largest in the area since 1975, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. A lava flow advanced 0.6 of a mile from one of the vents. Geologists said the activity looked like an event in 1955 when eruptions continued for 88 days in the area and covered around 4,000 acres with lava. Lava has spread around 387,500 square feet (36,000 square meters) surrounding the most active fissure, though the rate of movement is slow. There was no indication when the lave might stop or how far it might spread. "Theres more magma in the system to be erupted. As long as that supply is there, the eruption will continue," US Geological Survey volcanologist Wendy Stovall said. The number of lava-venting fissures in the neighborhood grew overnight from eight to as many as 10, Stovall said, though some have quieted at various points. Regardless, USGS scientists expect fissures to keep spewing. The lava could eventually be channeled to one powerful vent while others go dormant, as has happened in some previous Hawaii eruptions, Stovall said. Kilauea (pronounced kill-ah-WAY-ah), one of the worlds most active volcanoes, has been erupting continuously since 1983. The USGSs Hawaiian Volcano Observatory issued a notice in mid-April that there were signs of pressure building in underground magma, and a new vent could form on the cone or along whats known as the East Rift Zone. Leilani Estates sits along the zone. The crater floor began to collapse Monday, triggering earthquakes and pushing lava into new underground chambers that carried it toward Leilani Estates and nearby communities. A magnitude-6.9 earthquake — Hawaiis largest in more than 40 years — hit the area Friday.