TSMC plants evacuated as major earthquake in Taiwan kills at least four

The biggest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years has killed at least four people, with TSMC plants evacuated as a safety precaution.

Apple’s chipmaker is still assessing the impact on production; even the slightest vibration can result in entire batches of chips being destroyed …

Major earthquake hits Taiwan

BBC News reports that the 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the island’s eastern coast.

The epicentre was 18km (11 miles) south of Hualien city, but strong tremors were felt all the way in the capital Taipei, more than 100km away […]

It caused the most damage in Hualien, where buildings fell, roads were blocked and train lines disrupted, leaving the remote region even more cut off from the rest of Taiwan […]

Social media was soon filled with extraordinary footage of landslides along the coast. They tumbled down the mountains, making huge clouds billow up from the sea as they crashed into it. 

It is along this coastline, with its narrow, winding roads and tunnels carved out of the rock, that dozens have become trapped [with rescue operations underway].

The number of lives lost is currently unclear, with varying sources reporting anything from four to nine. Hundreds of people have been injured.

TSMC plants evacuated

Bloomberg reports that Apple chipmaker TSMC has evacuated staff from several plants.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. halted some chipmaking and evacuated plants after the biggest earthquake to hit its home island in 25 years, raising concerns about disruptions to the global tech supply chain.

TSMC, the main contract chipmaker to Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp., moved staff out of certain areas and said it’s assessing the impact […]

A single vibration can destroy entire batches of the precision-made semiconductors [which] can require uninterrupted seclusion in a vacuum for weeks on end.

There are no current reports of casualties at TSMC facilities.

Taiwan sits in a seismically active zone, with most quakes due to the convergence of the Philippine Sea plate and the Eurasian Plate to the east of the island. While this one is bigger than most, its location means that there have been fewer casualties so far reported than in some previous quakes.