"Continuous Groundwater Extraction Causes Mexico City of 22 Million to Sink by 24cm Annually"

Mexico City Sinking by Over 24 cm Each Year

It has been revealed that Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, is sinking into the ground. This phenomenon has become visible even in images captured by satellites.

On May 5 (local time), CNN reported that, according to the latest satellite observations by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), some areas of Mexico City subsided by up to approximately 2.2 centimeters per month during the dry season between October last year and January this year. This corresponds to an annual subsidence rate of about 24 centimeters.

Radar image capturing Mexico City. The blue marked areas indicate subsidence regions. NASA

This observation was analyzed based on data captured by the 'NISAR' satellite, which was jointly developed by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). NISAR is equipped with a high-performance radar capable of detecting subtle changes on the Earth's surface, such as ground movement, glacier shifts, and volcanic activity. The satellite has been tracking changes in the ground level of Mexico City from October last year through January this year.

Mexico City is a city built atop a former lakebed. It is a major metropolis with a population of about 22 million, making it one of the largest cities in the world. The city relies on groundwater for 60 percent of its drinking water supply.

The reason for Mexico City's sinking is also directly tied to groundwater. Over a long period, the continuous extraction of groundwater has gradually depleted the space beneath the ground, causing the city to slowly sink. To make matters worse, the ongoing expansion of large-scale infrastructure above ground has further accelerated the rate of subsidence.

Records indicate that ground subsidence in Mexico City dates back to the 1920s. This is also evident in the 'Angel of Independence' monument, erected to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mexico's independence. Although the monument is 34 meters tall, 14 additional steps had to be installed as the ground subsided beneath it.

David Bekaert, a member of the NISAR project, told CNN, "Mexico City is a representative example of a city experiencing ground subsidence," adding, "This investigation is only the beginning, and new cases of ground changes will continue to be discovered worldwide in the future."

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