Do all 3 main types of volcanoes produce pyroclastic flows?
A shield volcano does not normally produce pyroclastic flows. Kilauea is your classic example of a shield volcano. It mostly produces relatively fast-moving basalt lava flows, which is what gives it that spread out, massive profile. By fast moving, of course, we mean slow enough for you to get out of the way, but not fast enough to move your house! Even so, this is the primary type of eruption on Kilauea. It is not the only kind. The shield volcanoes of Hawaii all have cinder cones on them. Volcanic eruptions in Hawaii often include cinders and ash, but pyroclastic flows are rare. More than three hundred years ago, there was a rare explosive eruption at Kilauea, probably a pyroclastic flow, that did kill between 80 and 400 members of a war party. Fornander quoted a witness: “The company in advance had not proceeded far before the ground began to shake and rock beneath their feet, and it became quite impossible to stand. Soon a dense cloud of darkness was seen to rise out of the crater,
