Bad news from Taiwan as the island was recently hit by a strong earthquake off the eastern city of Hualien. The 7.2 magnitude quake (the strongest in 25 years) forced the island’s main component foundries to halt operations as a precautionary measure.
Earthquake in Taiwan, major foundries shut down!
Unfortunately, this violent earthquake was not without consequences… In human terms, seven people were killed and 700 injured.
Secondly, the island’s main foundries are either shut down or partially shut down. This is the case for TSMC, UMC, PSMC and Innolux, all of which have shut down or partially shut down their plants as a precautionary measure. It should also be noted that, in view of the impact, all personnel have been evacuated.
As far as we know, the plants are still shut down, and inspections are under way to ensure that the equipment has not been damaged.
At present, aftershocks have been felt during the day, while authorities fear further earthquakes over the next four days. We assume that during this time, foundries will not resume operations and will wait until all risks have been averted.
It remains to be seen what impact such a shutdown will have on the tech world. In the meantime, our support goes out to the victims and their families!
