NASA satellite images show Mexico City sinking at alarming rate as water crisis worsens

NASA has released new satellite images showing that Mexico City is sinking at an alarming rate, with some areas subsiding by nearly 10 inches a year.

The findings come from the NISAR satellite, a joint project between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization.

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The radar system tracked ground movement in the Mexican capital between October 2025 and January 2026.

According to the data, parts of the city are sinking by around 0.8 inches a month due to severe groundwater extraction and rapid urban development.

David Bekaert, a project manager at the Flemish Institute for Technological Research and a member of the NISAR science team, said to CNN: “Mexico City is a well-known hot spot when it comes to subsidence, and images like this are just the beginning for NISAR.”

“We’re going to see an influx of new discoveries from all over the world,” he added.

Mexico City, home to around 22 million people, sits on an ancient aquifer that supplies about 60 percent of its drinking water.

Experts say decades of over-pumping have weakened the ground beneath the city, causing roads to crack, buildings to tilt and infrastructure to deteriorate.

Areas near Benito Juarez International Airport were identified as among the worst affected.

The city’s famous Angel of Independence monument has already required 14 additional steps at its base because of the sinking ground.