NASA issued an urgent geo-hazard alert after satellite imaging detected massive ground movement across a wide swath of Mississippi. The sudden, widespread shift puzzled officials, who initially suspected routine seismic activity.
Satellite and seismic data show the ground beneath the Mississippi River Delta is moving, sinking in some places and rising in others, at rates that have drawn increasing attention from scientists and federal agencies. The pattern is not new, but recent measurements suggest it is accelerating, and it is now considered a factor in the stability of roads, bridges, levees, and water systems across th…