Which process exacerbates liquefaction during seismic activity, resulting in structural instability?

💡 Explanation

During seismic activity, elevated pore water pressure from shaking reduces the effective stress between soil particles because the water bears more of the load, leading to a loss of shear strength. Therefore elevated pore water pressure results in liquefaction, rather than compaction, dilatancy hardening, or thixotropic behavior which involve opposing mechanisms affecting soil strength.

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