UMC - TSMC Suspends Chip Production After Taiwan Rocked By Strongest Tremor In 25 Years | Benzinga
Taiwan experienced a strong 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday, marking the strongest tremor in 25 years. Following the quake, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (NYSE:TSM) evacuated its factory zones, posing a risk to production at the world's premier manufacturer of advanced chips.
What Happened: The earthquake, which occurred at 8 a.m. local time, had its epicenter in the mountainous, sparsely populated eastern county of Hualien, as reported by Reuters. The Taiwan fire department confirmed one fatality, suspected to have been caused by falling rocks, and over 50 injuries. Several buildings have been damaged, with people trapped inside.
TSMC and its main competitor UMC cleared factory zones following the largest earthquake to hit the island in 25 years, raising concerns about production at the world's leading manufacturer of advanced chips, reported Bloomberg.
"TSMC's safety systems are operating normally. To ensure the safety of personnel, some fabs were evacuated according to company procedure," the company said in a statement. "We are currently confirming the details of the impact."
Despite the earthquake’s depth of 15.5km (9.6 miles), it triggered a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines, which was lifted. Japan’s weather agency reported small tsunami waves in ...