The current understanding of mechanisms for liquefaction failure is briefly reviewed based on previous investigations and case studies on recent earthquakes. The liquefaction-induced failure modes addressed include free surface settlement, the settlement of shallow foundations, uplift in buried structures and lateral flow. Of these, lateral flow failure, the mechanism of which remains poorly understood, is focused on by introducing different viewpoints of soil mechanics. Special attention is paid to recent findings on the void redistribution effect due to soil stratifications that may explain extremely large flow displacement even in soils on the dilative side of the steady-state line.