The Mexican capital is sinking rapidly and irregularly, creating fractures on the soil, according to studies carried out by experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
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The source noted that in some places in Mexico City, the ground is sinking 40 centimeters a year, compared to 20 centimeters in other places. This process is related to the earthquakes and may continue or stop.
In order to determine the risks run by Mexico City, Dora Carreón, a researcher from the Geosciences Center, made a digital map, commissioned by the Nation Center for Disaster Prevention (Cenapred), that shows the fractured zones that pose more risks.
The scientist explained that those cracks, which start in the subsoil, reach the surface and destroy pipes, streets and buildings.
The map, which is available on www.atlasnacionalderiesgos.com.mx, shows a capital crossed by caverns and crevices caused by the fact that the city was built on old lakes, in a very fragile terrain.
Although the experts think that the project can be improved, it shows 12 sites in Mexico City with critical deformations in the colonies of Iztapalapa, Iztacalco, Tláhuac, Cuauhtémoc, Benito Juárez and Xochimilco.
According to the experts, the study was aimed at analyzing the capital's vulnerability to subsidence (the progressive sinking of a surface) and subsoil fractures, identifying the critical spots that are more likely to be affected and evaluating social vulnerability in marginalized zones.
Now, they say, we have a reliable scientific analysis that allows monitoring seismicity and its consequences for the Mexican capital systematically.
It is a very important tool, radar images via satellite and a technique that allow us to evaluate every millimeter of difference in vertical deformation between images, they stressed. ■
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