It's been more than three weeks since the earth began to open up in the southeastern corner of Hawaii's Big Island, and rivers of molten rock from Kilauea began to flow across the surface of the volcano's East Rift Zone.

In that time, nearly two dozen fissures have opened in and around the Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens subdivisions and the resulting lava flows have spread over 2372 acres (3.7 square miles or 9.6 square kilometers), according to the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Within all those acres consumed and encased in new layers of rock were dozens of homes and other structures, cars and other property.