The depletion of Iran's underwater aquifers is driving the ground to sink rapidly throughout the country, new research shows.
More than 12,120 square miles (31,400 square kilometers) of the country — an area roughly the size of Maryland — is now moving downward faster than 0.39 inches (10 millimeters) per year. In a more extreme example, the ground level has dropped by over a foot (34 cm) per year near the city of Rafsanjan, in central Iran.
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