Engineering360: "Watch How Ricequakes Simulate Ice Shelf and Rockfill Dam Collapse"

I think there is a relative scale issue to be addressed here.

While the mechanism is interesting, it's effect is very minor when compared to that of hydraulic piping under the base of the retention structure. In short, wet rock is still a lot stronger than wet puffed rice.

Once water is able to seep under the base of the structure from the upstream face all the way to the downstream face, an initiating hollow will be started in the downstream face and work it's way all the way back to the upstream face, leading shortly to total structural collapse. It will do so much more quickly than the weight of the structure will crush the structure-base-water-interface layer, relegating that much slower-working mechanism to a very minor role in the overall collapse...