Overview
- NISAR mapping, which tracked the city between October 2025 and January 2026, found parts of Mexico City dropping more than 2 centimeters a month, including at Benito Juárez International Airport.
- UNAM engineers say heavy groundwater pumping from the old lakebed is the driver, and lab samples of the clay shrank up to threefold when dried.
- Reported sink rates reach roughly 30 to 40 centimeters a year in highly compressible zones such as Texcoco.
- The toll is visible in daily life with cracked roads, rail damage, and fixes to landmarks like the Ángel de la Independencia, which now has 14 added steps.
- Researchers are building a subsurface database with the city’s risk agency to update hazard maps, and they urge water reuse and rain harvesting to ease aquifer stress.