A powerful earthquake struck waters near Taiwan on Wednesday morning, killing at least nine people and shaking the island’s high-tech industries, triggering tsunami warnings in the Philippines and Japan’s Okinawa. The quake, measuring 7.2 in magnitude, had its epicenter off the coast of Hualien, as reported by Taiwan’s Central Meteorological Administration, which said it was the largest earthquake to hit the island since September 1999. It was not immediately clear full extent of casualties and damage, but Taiwan’s Interior Ministry reported nine dead and hundreds injured by late afternoon. Severely tilted buildings and broken train tracks in Hualien, where the local government suspended work and school for the day. The roads leading into the city also had cracks.
Taiwanese technology companies were quick to assess the impact. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest chipmaker, evacuated some of its factories as a precaution. “Preventive measures have been initiated according to procedure and some factories have been evacuated,” the company said. “All staff are safe and those who have been evacuated are starting to return to their workplaces. The company is currently confirming details of the impact.” TSMC also added that it has “decided to suspend work at the construction sites for today, and work will resume after further inspections.”
United Microelectronics CFO Liu Chitong said the world’s third-largest contract chipmaker had also evacuated its manufacturing facilities. “Some chip manufacturing machines have stopped and now our team is working to restart the manufacturing machines as soon as possible,” he said. Display manufacturers Innolux and AUO also evacuated plants. A manager at equipment supplier TSMC told Nikkei Asia that his company was discussing whether to send more staff to work overtime during the upcoming Qingming holiday this week, to help chip makers recover from the disruption. Sources within TSMC reported that some wafers were damaged in the Hsinchu factories and that some machinery was stopped. Many expect to have to work during the holidays as a result.
In Tainan, home to some of the most advanced semiconductor factories, including TSMC’s 5-nanometer and 3-nanometer processor factories, which produce processors for Apple’s iPhones and Nvidia’s AI chips, the impact initially appeared to be milder. On Taiwan’s stock market, the weighted Taiex index fell immediately after the opening bell. It fell as much as 0.96% on the day to close 0.63% lower. Some Japanese companies with operations in Taiwan reported minor damage, including chipmaking equipment maker Tokyo Electron and Ebara, a supplier of wafer polishing machines. Tokyo Electron has several facilities in Hsinchu, Linkou, Taichung and Tainan, mainly for maintenance and business operations, but said it does not expect long-lasting effects.