Mexico City is sinking so quickly, it can be seen from space

Photo: Xochimilco – February 20, 2018. Photo credit: Mexico City Government via Flickr. Public Domain. Article by Megan Janetsky. AP News – May 1, 2026.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico City is sinking by nearly 10 inches (about 25 centimeters) a year, according to new satellite imagery released this week by NASA, making it one of the world’s fastest-subsiding metropolises. One of the world’s most sprawling and populated urban areas, at 3,000 square miles (about 7,800 square kilometers) and some 22 million people, the Mexican capital and surrounding cities were built atop an ancient lake bed. Many downtown streets were once canals, a tradition that continues in the rural fringes. […]

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Image: US-Indian Space Mission Maps Extreme Subsidence in Mexico City – April 29, 2026. New data from NISAR shows where Mexico City and its environs subsided by up to a few centimeters per month (shown in blue) between Oct. 25, 2025, and Jan. 17, 2026. Uneven and seemingly small elevation changes have added up over the decades, fracturing roads, buildings, and water lines. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/David Bekaert.