2cm a month is actually crazy. I knew the city was sinking but seeing it mapped out like that by nasa is something else. Building a massive metro area on an old lakebed was always gonna be risky but that rate of subsidence is just terrifying to think about for the long term. Really hope they figure out the groundwater situation soon because this looks like a slow motion disaster.
1099
Loose_Skill66415 days ago
+284
all the buildings must be full of cracks or something
284
Dangerous-Sale32435 days ago
+249
Was just there downtown, you cant really tell besides the occasional smell of sewage from cracked or poorly draining pipes. No visible or notable cracks.
249
id75745 days ago
+168
No cracks but if you look at the horizontal lines on the buildings, they're all uneven with the ground. Most of the buildings are tilted a bit.
168
oh_nohz4 days ago
+80
Also, next time look at buildings that have stairs leading down to them from street level. Most of these were constructed at street level and due to sinkage, they have had to add access stairs. The Palacio de Bellas artes is a prime example of this. The way they added stairs makes it seem that it has always been that way when in reality it was once street level.
Many apartment buildings also feel crooked. My friend had to add child safety locks to their built in dresser drawers because the building slant causes them to slowly slide open.
One thing I always point out to friends when they visit- go into a historic cathedral and look at the chandeliers. More often than not, they don’t rest in a straight line perpendicular with the floor, so you can really see how crooked they are.
80
Pumperkin4 days ago
+25
The dresser drawers is wild. That and the chandelier sound a bit poltergeisty
25
oh_nohz4 days ago
+23
Another friend lived in an apartment building that was leaning so hard you could roll things across the living room just by setting them down on their sides. Bottles, the dog’s ball etc. Everything would roll fast, too. I’m surprised the building didn’t fall during the quake in 2017 and is still standing. Very obviously crooked from the street view. I could start a Listnook account just about the architectural oddities I’ve seen in my time here.
23
Honeydew-Popular4 days ago
+3
It must feel like living in a different dimension for newcomers
3
DisastrousAcshin4 days ago
+10
So it smells like Vegas?
10
Carrera_9965 days ago
-94
Lots of places in Mexico smell like sewage because that is how crude oil smells.
-94
acslaytaa4 days ago
+13
What?
13
Carrera_9964 days ago
-17
Crude oil bubbles up from the ground. It smells like sewage. There are even signs everywhere with phone numbers for the locals to call and report when it gets into your plumbing or causes other such problems. I am just stating facts. No idea why I got downvoted.
-17
KrissyKrave4 days ago
+14
You’re being downvoted because a cursory google search shows that what you said is not at all true. The geology also doesn’t allow for it. Its built on layer upon layer upon layer of volcanic rock. Rhyolite, Dacite and Andesite. Below that is Basaltic scoria and dolomite and beneath alllll of that cretaceous limestone. There’s no crude oil or natural gas there.
14
Carrera_9964 days ago
-14
I did not imply the stinky crude oil was in geological deposits like in Saudi Arabia. It's in pipelines. In Mexico. Where shit is poorly maintained. And it leaks. And it smells. And there are signs everywhere like I said, specifically, they are posted by Pemex.
-14
Vash_TheStampede4 days ago
+11
Crude oil smells like crude oil, not sewage. Like...not even close.
11
Carrera_9964 days ago
-11
It smells exactly like sewage.
-11
Vash_TheStampede4 days ago
+15
It literally does not. I worked in the oilfield for half of my adult life, I've smelled and tasted all different types of crude.
It doesn't smell like sewage, you're wrong. At least none of it here in North America.
15
Carrera_9964 days ago
-13
Tasted.... OK. I'm done with this conversation. Carry on.
-13
Vash_TheStampede4 days ago
+14
Yes, tasted. You've never had something splash in your mouth when shit goes sideways?
Or are you just being done because you're wrong?
14
HollowDanO4 days ago
+7
Sometimes when it goes right too
7
Particular_Bet_54663 days ago
+2
Get pwnd
2
Samski8775 days ago
+17
That one hell of a subsidence claim
17
fhorst795 days ago
+6
Not if they sink at somewhat equal rates.
6
Equistremo4 days ago
+1
it's not as much of a problem if the entire city sinks evenly. The real issue is uneven (i.e. differential) settlement.
1
actionjj4 days ago
+36
https://tenochtitlan.thomaskole.nl/
If you have never seen this - it’s pretty cool. It also helps you understand why Mexico City has this issue.
36
BioIdra4 days ago
+7
Fascinating, thanks for sharing
7
Harnellas5 days ago
+37
This has got to be hell on any underground infrastructure.
37
artgriego4 days ago
+34
I'm not sure many people know how extensive their subway system is :/ And Mex City is huge, bigger than LA and more populous than NYC
34
oswbdo4 days ago
+9
Yeah,. I'm visiting it now. NYC and LA feel small in comparison. Hell, Seoul does too even though it has a similar population (guessing it's because Seoul doesn't sprawl as much). Jakarta, another sinking megacity, is the closest comparable I think.
9
Nim0y5 days ago
+66
For the people who don’t know metric. That just over one average banana a year 🍌. About 9.5 inches a year.
66
PhoniPoni5 days ago
+54
TIL that my banana is just 'average'
54
grrrimabear5 days ago
+19
Showoff
19
Particular-Mark-57714 days ago
+5
millimeters Jerry! millimeters!
5
SpiroG4 days ago
+6
Nah, man, stop spreading lies and misinformation, that's a HUGE banananananana. That's an outlier, a mutant bananananananananana, full of chemicals and steroids and electrolytes.
It would be incredibly uncomfortable to handle this banananananananananananananana.
Be better.
6
Doonce5 days ago
+2
So two hands, one inch, one barleycorn, and 170 thou. Got it.
2
EmergencyTaco4 days ago
+8
I read 2cm a month and immediately thought to myself 'wait that actually sounds like an insane amount and a serious problem'.
8
Assketchum14 days ago
+1
*upto
1
sixtus_clegane1194 days ago
+1
That's almost a foot a year Jesus
1
CatPhysicist5 days ago
-9
Imagine a major earthquake or major storm hitting the area. Infrastructure destroyed. Millions of migrants. Humanitarian crisis for decades.
-9
RedditUser1455 days ago
+15
Mexico City is no stranger to earthquakes. Buildings are built with seismic activity in mind. And earthquake evacuation routes are posted in every room of public building along with placards designating safer zones should you not be able to evacuate the building.
You can't fully earthquake-proof an entire city given the raw power of a high magnitude quake. But Mexico City is more prepared for one than most cities given their history of severe earthquakes.
15
CatPhysicist5 days ago
+2
Thats good to know. Thanks. Just seems scary to think the city is sinking at that rate and it would be difficult to still make something earthquake resistant. Obviously the city is huge and different areas are probably sinking at different rates but this just seems like a recipe for a disaster
2
RedditUser1455 days ago
Yeah, it was a little unnerving seeing all the earthquake safety signage everywhere there. Especially because they strike without warning.
The only earthquake I've experienced in the US was so mild I just thought it was my upstairs neighbors briefly being loud. Didn't even realize it was a quake until I saw it in the news the next day, lol.
0
Gatlindragon5 days ago
+1
A major earthquake like the one from 2017?
1
RamBamBooey4 days ago
-9
Very slow motion: it's been happening for more than 100 years.
-9
sentimentaldiablo4 days ago
+12
At the current rate?
12
VladamirK5 days ago
+68
Isn't it one of the most populated cities in the world? That sounds like a major problem.
68
mecartistronico2 days ago
+3
Yes.
But it's not the _whole city_ that's sinking. Just the original settlement, which is now the old downtown.
Still a pretty big area and a pretty big problem.
3
Front_Promise_59915 days ago
+218
Tenochtitlan was built on the island.
So they just expanded and built all modern Mexico on that lake.
Interesting.
218
TBLwarrior5 days ago
+61
Not to say an ancient city of that size wouldn’t have been sinking either; but yes…. Not exactly the brightest idea long term…. Isn’t a solid ratio NYC built on garbage in the water ? Or least a neighborhood is, right ? Wonder what that’s doing
61
slavelabor525 days ago
+123
NYC is different because the bedrock there is much closer to the surface. That's why skyscrapers can be built there
123
Caffeine_Monster4 days ago
+12
A few skyscrapers are running into issues though where they have skimped on not sinking foundations deep enough. NYC is still difficult to build on.
12
TBLwarrior5 days ago
+16
That makes sense; I feel like it was only a specific neighborhood or two that was built on the garbage. My point being; we as humans, especially without modern tech, will make decisions that long term maybe are not ideal.
16
slavelabor525 days ago
+13
Yea I want to say it was like by battery park near the tip of Manhattan that they expanded the land a bit but im not from NYC so not as familiar
13
Herschel_Wallace5 days ago
+7
It's like two blocks wide:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reclamation_in_Lower_Manhattan
7
Anne__Frank1 day ago
+1
> especially without modern tech
Lol this doesn't factor one ioata.
We've known about human caused climate change since the 70s and done jack shit except make it worse.
We destroy nature and build suburban sprawl knowing that it literally cannot support itself financially.
We're funneling all wealth into the hands of a few people despite knowing the economy performs better when it is spread out.
We don't make decisions with long term thought at all, regardless of the knowledge we have.
1
Drspaceman17175 days ago
+21
Boston and Venice was expanded over the marshland by burying millions of tree poles and pounding them into the mud.
21
EpicCyclops5 days ago
+8
Portland, OR has significant sections that were once creek beds or wetlands along the Willamette River. However, it was pretty late to the land reclamation game, so the biggest risk with it is mostly that the Willamette is more likely to flood in the city.
Reclaiming land from the delta where the Willamette and Columbia Rivers meet didn't go as well because the Columbia vetoed the plan by flooding and destroying the developing neighborhoods there.
8
Pumperkin4 days ago
+4
Water really rules this world. Giver and destroyer of life.
4
TBLwarrior5 days ago
-6
And Venice sinking ? No wait, water levels are rising
-6
Drspaceman17175 days ago
+15
Both can be true
15
Angry_beaver_18674 days ago
+1
They build on garbage in manhattan’s but most building’s foundations go through the trash and anchor in the bed rock below.
1
Ethesen4 days ago
-13
Tenochtitlan has been founded in the 14th century. That’s not ancient.
-13
TBLwarrior4 days ago
+6
Excuse my verbiage; an OLD city without modern construction tech
6
Ethesen4 days ago
-3
No worries, you were only off by about one thousand years. ;)
-3
ClosetLadyGhost3 days ago
+1
Iirc they fucked up and decided to just drain the lake
1
seguinev5 days ago
+99
Until buildings start falling down into the streets on a catastrophic level, people will continue to not care. Its one of these too big to deal with problems for any single individual so its easy mentally to brush off because the only alternative is moving your entire life.
99
Bazookabernhard4 days ago
+4
I don‘t know if that‘s comparable, but the Ruhrgebiet in Germany (area covering several cities with roughly 5 million people living there) sunk on average by 12 meter since the 19th century. Essen downtown even sank by 30 meters. Biggest issue: 200 pumps needs to continuously pump water, otherwise the area will be flooded. Other than that it‘s not desaster per se. I recently met a person living there that didn‘t know anything about thid :D
Situation in Mexico city could be different of course, taller buildings etc.
4
frankocf4 days ago
+6
Mexico DC has 20 millions and besides that, earthquakes, not so frecuent, but pretty strong when they occur, i think is a much more complex situation, that I hope never developts into disaster
6
SkellyboneZ5 days ago
+335
I'm going to show this to my GF, then she'll understand that 2cm is a big deal.
335
WIbigdog4 days ago
+21
If your d*** was growing at 2cm a month it would be a pretty big deal!
21
Eorily4 days ago
+14
Sinking 2 cm a month.
14
swexicanamerican5 days ago
+35
Be proud.
35
4-Vektor5 days ago
+9
Short king boss move.
9
Easy-Goat4 days ago
+5
Look at Mr Schlong over here with his 2 cm. Save some p**** for us 1 cmer’s.
5
botchman5 days ago
+12
Considering it was built on a lake that's not too surprising, the thing that should freak people out is how earthquake prone that city is and with liquefaction often occurring it usually results in massive damages and fatalities.
12
redemily255 days ago
+18
This reminds of the South Park episode where the Mexico space program was called MASA. Still makes me giggle.
18
cyberianscribe5 days ago
+180
The Mexican obesity crisis has simply gone too far.
180
Puzzle-Necked5 days ago
+53
Montezuma's Revenge
53
Mr_Lobster4 days ago
+5
I'm curious if anybody can tell me what, realistically, are their options? Reinforcing the foundations of every building in the affected areas?
5
ObjectiveBike84 days ago
+6
I’m not too familiar with this situation but usually it’s because they are pumping too much ground water. So they could find a river within a few hundred miles of the city and try to build a system to redirect the water to the city and stop pumping ground water.
6
Spascucci4 days ago
+12
The city is located 7350 ft above sea level in a valley completely surrounded by Mountains, we have already the cutzamala system that pumps water to the city and provides about 30% of the water supply but it spends 2% of the electricity of the whole country just to pump the water to the valley
12
Imbendo4 days ago
+4
The most critical solutions involve stopping aquifer depletion through repairing massive leaks (which waste up to 40% of water), investing in rainwater harvesting, and injecting treated wastewater back into the ground.
4
yamanagashi5 days ago
+21
“You know Quetzalli, basing where we’d make a city on some k**** bird on snake vore seems like a poor choice. I mean, we’re literally sinking as we speak”
“That’s blasphemy Xóchitl, and you know it! I wouldn’t be named after some magic feathers that attracted us to this blessed place if it was not providence”
“… yeah about that, old chap…”
21
WISavant5 days ago
+14
Except the city you're talking about was a lake when Quetzalli and Xochitl were having this imaginary discussion.
14
darthy_parker5 days ago
+11
In other news: engineers recommend not to build heavy structures on an unstabilized lake bottom full of organic material, and/or to take underground water out.
11
Amerlis4 days ago
+6
Are you saying the legendary Eagle and Serpent, a sign from the gods, was …WRONG??? Heresy!
6
Icy-Computer-Poop4 days ago
+1
Cool news. Now all they Mexicans have to do is go back in time to 1325 and fix it.
1
RigelXVI5 days ago
+25
2cm a month, title of my sex tape
25
9CaptainRaymondHolt95 days ago
+4
Hot damn!
4
Maxpowerxp5 days ago
+6
That’s like 9 inches a year!
6
que_pedo_wey5 days ago
+2
I want a more detailed map. Is there one based on any common map service (e.g., Google Maps)?
2
Ready-Pressure99345 days ago
+5
see Jakarta, Bangkok….
5
Interesting-Dare-2945 days ago
+4
At this rate Mexico City becomes La Brea in a thousand years
4
WolfThick4 days ago
+3
It's always been sinking and especially downtown because it's infested with millions of rats tunneling under it. When I was there in the 80s they had an excavation going on down the street from the capitol they only dug down about 30 ft and it was all mud. When you go to put your clothes in the closet and I'm talking about the Hilton down the street from the capitol the corners of the closets have huge cracks in them from the earthquakes. And my god when I flew out over it it's immense it's like El Paso halfway to Midland size. Sorry I haven't visited this thought in a long time.
3
HollowDanO4 days ago
+2
It’s almost as depressed as I am. Ba dum tss
2
gizram844 days ago
+2
Kind of crazy to build a city on a lake
2
OddS0cks5 days ago
+4
Not to mention they’re almost always out of water due to their lapse in infrastructure repairs
4
[deleted]5 days ago
-1
[deleted]
-1
vannawhite_power5 days ago
+12
Yeah ....that's not true. 30 ft?
12
nautilator445 days ago
+6
I'm seeing sources saying 10ish feet since 1900, some areas a bit higher. Which is still a lot, but it's not 30.
6
Sir_Knumskull5 days ago
+2
30 feet???
2
Megaloman-_-5 days ago
+2
Which part, if I may ask?
I live in the heights, I don’t see any particular sign of long lasting subsidence here, just lot of gentrification
2
AnthonyS6215 days ago
+1
That’s crazy, how is their water infrastructure holding up? That’s like a foot every year and a half. I’d imagine leaks and outages would be very common.
1
mooseman18004 days ago
+1
I think I saw one of these sub Reds, where a fellow was showing. How much is either California or Texas had sunk over the last 50 years. It was amazing.
1
Adept-Mulberry-87204 days ago
+1
I'm 74 and Mexico City has been sinking for as long as I've been born! Just saying!
1
Atmacrush3 days ago
+1
Fun fact: San Francisco is also sinking but about 5mm per year instead.
1
Terrible-Group-96024 days ago
+1
Plus they get bad earthquakes
1
Van-garde4 days ago
+1
You’re telling me 40% of the water used in the city is leaks?
That’s an insane thing to tolerate. I guess it’s the size of the community preventing a response,
1
DharmaBird4 days ago
+1
I bet the old Tenochtitlàn didn't have this kind of problems, but since it was burned down by European invaders, it's kinda hard to tell.
1
herpderpby5 days ago
-1
Mexico City real estate in shambles?
-1
picklepaller5 days ago
-9
2.54 cm =1 in one inch.
If the article is correct, parts of the city are sinking (2.0/2.54)*12 =9.449 inches per year. In ten years this is (9.449/12)*10=7.874 feet.
Seems hard to believe, but maybe. .
-9
lucascr01475 days ago
+7
Ah so thats why the inches to feet conversion is 12! So you can transform a monthly sink rate to yearly sink rate!
7
Kozmic_River5 days ago
+6
It’s because Mexico City basically sits on top of an underground reservoir and population growth is causing it to dry up much faster than it can replenish by any natural means.
6
E_Kristalin5 days ago
+4
Jealous of the metric system yet?
4
Hungry-Power68505 days ago
+7
These conversions are always a reminder that the only 3x Countries that are not metric are Liberia, Myanmar and USA….enough said.
7
Accomplished_Tip35975 days ago
+3
Is there a reason why you use these insane units and conversions? You know the metric system that the entire world uses except some dilusional countries?
3
Oilpaintcha5 days ago
-2
Are we sure that volcano is dormant?
-2
jert34 days ago
-3
Jfc 2cm a month! That's wild. Won't take many years for it to go below water line at that rate. Wonder if they'll need to build giant dykes or walls, like in blade runner .
-3
Great_Northern_Beans4 days ago
+5
Below the water line? Which water are you referring to? Because at that rate it'll take approximately 8000 years to reach sea level...
5
Valleygurl995 days ago
-9
All Mexico City residents have to go on Ozempic, new regulation to save the city.
121 Comments