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In this photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, lava from Kilauea volcano’s last remaining active fissure erupts in the Leilani Estates neighborhood on Saturday, July 14, 2018 near Pahoa, Hawaii. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

Associated Press
PAHOA, Hawaii

A tour boat accident has drawn renewed attention to Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, but for Big Island residents the erupting lava has been an ever-present force for more than two months.

Molten rock is blasting from one last eruption site, a large cinder cone in a hard-hit neighborhood where new volcanic cracks first opened on May 3. It’s sending huge volumes of lava snaking to the ocean miles away.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, lava from Kilauea volcano flows from the Leilani Estates neighborhood on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 near Pahoa, Hawaii. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

An estimated 700 homes have been destroyed, more than 500 of those in just two days, and thousands of people have been displaced. One man was injured in the weeks after the eruption began, and another 23 people were hurt Monday when lava entering the ocean exploded onto a tour boat.

The lava has covered more than 11 square miles (28 square kilometers) of land, vaporized the state’s largest freshwater lake and filled an entire ocean bay, turning it into a mile (1.6 kilometers) of burnt, rocky ground. Steam and gas could be seen pouring from a new, very small island that formed near the flows on Friday.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, lava from Kilauea volcano enters the ocean south of the eruption site near Kapoho, Hawaii, Thursday, July 18, 2018 on Hawaii’s Big Island. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

The collapse of the Kilauea summit crater also continues, with large explosions and strong earthquakes occurring almost daily.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Puo Oo eruption site on Kilauea volcano is shown in this Friday, July 13, 2018 aerial image in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. On April 30, the Puu Oo crater floor collapsed and magma moved underground along the volcano’s slopes, leading to a series of eruptions in the Leilani Estates subdivision near Pahoa, Hawaii. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)