NASA NISAR Satellite Confirms Mexico City Sinking Up to 14 Inches Per Year

New data from the NISAR satellite (a joint NASA–ISRO mission) published May 5 confirmed that parts of Mexico City are sinking at rates of up to 0.78 inches (2 cm) per month — equivalent to roughly 14 inches (35 cm) per year — based on radar measurements taken from October 2025 through January 2026. The Benito Juárez International Airport (AICM) and the Ángel de la Independencia monument (which has had 14 steps added to its base over the decades to compensate for subsidence) are among the most monitored affected points. Root cause: over-extraction of the aquifer underlying the ancient lakebed of Lake Texcoco, which supplies more than 60% of drinking water to the capital's 22 million residents. The NISAR data corroborates and refines earlier findings by UNAM geophysicists published in Nature (2021), which estimated maximum subsidence rates of ~50 cm/year in the worst-affected zones. Scientists warn the phenomenon cannot be reversed in most areas and will continue to undermine building foundations, water pipes, and historic structures including the Metropolitan Cathedral and Palacio de Bellas Artes.