A city sinking fast

Jakarta, the Indonesian capital of more than 10 million is sinking!

Jakarta the Indonesian capital of more than 10 million is sinking! Additionally to rising sea levels, the capital also suffers of severe surface sinking. Its buildings and population extract most of their water needs by drilling water wells into the underground aquifers, rendering it susceptible for collapse. Experts estimate that by 2050 more than 95% northern Jakarta's coastal districts could be submerged. Main reason of the increasing scale of floods in Jakarta is because the city is sinking and that rain water tends to stagnate rather than to wash out to the sea as coastal areas where rivers flow out are under the sea level.
During the past decennia, river water became too polluted to be used as the main source for water supply and a shift was made towards digging deep water wells. This happened in an un-controlled and often illegal way, draining drop by drop the underground aquifers on which the city rests and creating enormous air pockets making the surface unstable and eventually making the ground to sink and collapse. Almost half of Jakarta lies now below sea level and coastal districts of the city are sinking at an alarming rate of up to 25cm per year.