[News] Taiwan Earthquake Causes Partial Wafer Plant Equipment Shutdown, Limited Impact Expected

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On the morning of the 3rd April, a Richter scale 7.2 earthquake occurred, shaking the entire Taiwan. Semiconductor wafer foundries were also disrupted, and relevant manufacturers have carried out emergency evacuations according to SOP.

According to Money DJ, in response to the earthquake impact, TSMC is currently confirming detailed situations, while UMC has reported partial shutdowns of equipment and is making efforts to resume operations. As for PSMC, related evaluation is underway. The industry believes that the impact on the operations of related companies should be limited.

TSMC stated that, to ensure personnel safety, relevant preventive measures have been initiated according to internal company procedures. Some personnel in certain factory areas have been evacuated, and all personnel are currently safe and gradually returning to their workstations. Detailed situations are yet to be confirmed. Preliminary inspections of factory construction sites have shown normal conditions. For safety considerations, the company has decided to suspend work at construction sites across Taiwan today, and will resume after inspection.

The industry indicates that wafer fab buildings have quite high seismic resistance coefficients, capable of withstanding earthquakes of magnitude 7. However, typically occurring earthquakes of magnitude 3 to 4 may trigger machinery to activate defense mechanisms and auto shutdown. Whether normal operations will be resumed directly after restart, or if other damages occur, will require detailed inspections. Additionally, issues like wafers produced on the production line are partially damaged and ruptured quartz tubes and pipelines will require at least 1 to 2 days for further checking.

(Photo credit: CWA)