Question

During an earthquake near port royal, jamaica, the water-saturated sand on which the city was built vigorously shook. as a result, the sand particles lost contact with one another, giving the mixture the consistency of a thick milk shake. anything supported by the ground, such as buildings and people, either floated or sank. one eyewitness stated: "whole streets with inhabitants were swallowed up. . . . some were swallowed quite down, and cast up again by great quantities of water; others went down and were never more seen." this is a description of

Answer 1

I believe the answer is: Liquefaction

During liquefaction, soil would lost the strength in its composition which make its structure become similar to liquid.
The most common cause of liquefaction is usually constant pressure that made by overcrowded buildings or constant earthquakes that keep reoccuring in one single area.