Earthquake affects semiconductor production in Taiwan, but damage is limited, says company

The earthquake in Taiwan this Wednesday, 3, which left nine dead and more than 900 injuredharmed semiconductor production in the country, due to the interruption of component manufacturing in some factories.

The partial shutdown could impact the production of chips in some of the world’s main manufacturers and harm the global economy, according to Bloomberg. Analysts interviewed by the agency point out that some chips require uninterrupted operations 24 hours a day and every day of the week. Therefore, the interruption of some operations in Taiwan may mean that some products have been damaged.

Production of the material in Taiwan is very important to the global economy because the country represents more than half of the laptop and network device market.

The main company in the sector in the country, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.), which is the largest chip manufacturer in the world, stated that it removed employees from some distribution centers due to security measures related to the earthquake. Despite this, the company also announced that these employees have already returned to work. TSMC supplies chips to companies like Apple and Nvidia.

In a statement sent to the newspaper South China Morning Post, from Hong Kong, the company estimated that it would have a profit reduction of US$60 million due to the earthquake, according to financial forecasts for the second quarter. Despite this, TSMC highlighted that the impact would be limited. According to Reuters, three TSMC facilities across the country have experienced outages and may delay some delivery shipments.

Other smaller companies in the sector such as United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) have also removed employees from some production centers.

The tremor with a magnitude above 7 was felt in Taiwan this Wednesday, the 3rd, shaking the entire island and causing buildings to collapse. This was the biggest earthquake suffered by the country since 1999. The earthquake left nine dead and 934 injured, according to Taiwan’s National Fire Agency. Local broadcaster United Daily News noted that three people who were climbing mountains in Taroko National Park died in rockslides in Hualien, and that a van driver died in the same area when rocks hit the vehicle.

Authorities said they had lost contact with 50 people who were in a minibus in the national park after the earthquake knocked out telephone networks. Another six people were trapped in a coal mine and a rescue was underway. The earthquake and aftershocks also caused 24 landslides and damage to 35 roads, bridges and tunnels.

Tremors regularly hit the country and Taiwan has improved its earthquake preparedness, reducing the number of deaths and injuries over the years. Since the 1980s, the country has improved its early warning system – to warn the population about earthquakes.

The country has undertaken a lengthy review of its building and enforcement codes, requiring owners of vulnerable structures to install reinforcements, and requiring new buildings to have a strict earthquake safety system. Taipei has also established an urban search and rescue team and opened several emergency medical operations centers./com AP