What is subsidence?

Subsidence is when the ground beneath you slowly sinks or drops down, just like a cookie falling into a glass of milk.

Imagine you're playing with building blocks, you stack them up high to make a tower. But if some of the blocks underneath start to shift or crumble, your whole tower might lean or even fall over. That's kind of what happens with subsidence.

Think about when you lie down on your bed after a long day, it sinks a little. Now imagine your whole bedroom slowly sinking into the floor, like the ground is getting tired and wants to rest too. That’s subsidence, but instead of just your bed, sometimes whole streets or neighborhoods sink over time.

Sometimes, when we dig under the Earth for things like water or oil, it's like taking out some of the support beams from a big house. Without those beams, the ground above can slowly move downward, and that’s subsidence in action!