Jakarta is sinking by an average of [1-15cm a year and almost half the city now sits below sea level](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44636934).

&gt;The impact is immediately apparent in North Jakarta.

The dramatic rate at which Jakarta is sinking is partly down to the excessive extraction of groundwater for use as drinking water, for bathing and other everyday purposes by city dwellers. Piped water isn't reliable or available in most areas so people have no choice but to resort to pumping water from the aquifers deep underground.

&gt;But when groundwater is pumped out, the land above it sinks as if it is sitting on a deflating balloon - and this leads to land subsidence.