Seattle among U.S. cities slowly sinking
May 12, 2025, 5:03 AM
Seattle is certainly beautiful on the outside, but has plenty of issues on the inside. That must be part of the reason why people love and hate it. (Photo: Karen Ducey via Getty Images)
(Photo: Karen Ducey via Getty Images)
Seattle is among several major U.S. cities that are slowly sinking.
That’s according to researchers at Virginia Tech, who used satellite-based radar measurements for their study, published in the journal .
They say groundwater extraction is a major factor, along with climate change and tectonic activity.
The movement is slight鈥擲eattle is sinking at about 2 millimeters per year.
“Even slight downward shifts in land can significantly compromise the structural integrity of buildings, roads, bridges, and railways over time,”听said Leonard Ohenhen, a former Virginia Tech graduate student and the study鈥檚 lead author, in a post on the
He worked with Associate Professor 聽at Virginia Tech鈥檚聽.
The study used satellite-based radar measurements to create high-resolution maps of sinking land in 28 of the most populous U.S. cities. A total of 34 million people–roughly 12% of the U.S. population–live in these cities, according to the post.
“In every city studied, at least 20% of the urban area is sinking鈥攁nd in 25 of 28 cities, at least 65% is sinking,” the post said. “New York, Chicago, Seattle, Denver, and five other cities are sinking at about 2 millimeters per year. Several cities in Texas exhibited some of the highest measured rates of subsidence at about 5 millimeters per year鈥攁nd as much as 10 millimeters per year in certain areas of Houston.”
Heather Bosch is an award-winning journalist for 成人X站 Newsradio. Read more of her stories聽here.
