According to information from the meteorological department of Taiwan on the 17th late at night, 20 earthquakes occurred one after another in Taitung’s Lotus County, all shallow earthquakes with a maximum magnitude of 6.6. At 2:44 p.m. on the 18th, another 6.9 magnitude earthquake occurred in Taitung.
According to the report, the 6.9 magnitude earthquake, the epicenter in Taitung Chihshang, the epicenter depth of 7 km, Taitung Chihshang tremor reached 6 strong, Hualien Yuli 6 weak, Nantou Yushan 5 weak, Taitung City, Chiayi County, Kaohsiung City, Tainan City, Yunlin County, Nantou County, Tainan City, Changhua County, Chiayi County, Taichung City, Hualien County, New Taipei City, Yilan County, etc. all reached 4. The tremor was also felt in coastal areas such as Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shanghai.
Chen Guochang, director of the Taiwan Meteorological Department’s Earthquake Measurement Center, said that this afternoon’s 6.9 magnitude earthquake was the main quake and that yesterday evening’s quakes were all foreshocks.
Comprehensive Taiwan media reports show that the earthquake caused the collapse of a building in Hualien, Dongli railway station due to the collapse of the platform led to the train derailment, Luntian Bridge fracture, Gaoliao Bridge fracture 3 people fell, is in the rescue.
In addition, a water main ruptured in the Yuli area of Hualien, causing power outages to 7,073 households in Yuli.
A building collapsed in Yuli Township, Hualien
Train derailment at △ Dongli Station
△Hualien Yuli Gaoliao Bridge was affected by the earthquake and broke into several pieces
As Taiwan is a global semiconductor and panel manufacturing hub, the equipment in semiconductor and panel factories not only requires high precision but also uses a lot of chemicals and gases (most of which are toxic) in the front end of the semiconductor and panel manufacturing process.
If the intensity of the earthquake is high, there may be problems such as machine failure and chemical and gas leakage, which may cause production interruptions.
Especially in the current situation where some chips are still in short supply, the outside world is particularly concerned about whether the earthquake has affected the production of the relevant semiconductor manufacturers in Taiwan.
According to Taiwan media reports, TSMC has responded to the public that, after the earthquake this afternoon, the company has followed internal procedures for the southern plant (Tainan Science Park plant) part of the clean room personnel evacuated the first time to ensure safety. At present, the industrial safety system is normal.
UMC also pointed out that, due to the earthquake this afternoon, a few machines in the Hsinchu plant have activated the self-protection mechanism and have been restarted, and the personnel are safe.
Panel maker Guntron also said that some machines in Guntron’s Tainan plant have been shut down automatically for protection and system inspection, and some plants have been evacuated.
In addition, the industrial parks under the jurisdiction of Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs in Hsinchu, Nanke and Taiwan said that there was no disaster return and the operation was not affected.
It is understood that the Hsinchu Science Park has six science parks under its jurisdiction, including Hsinchu, Zhunan, Tongluo, Longtan, Yilan and Hsinchu Biomedical Park. The Hsinchu Science Park Administration said that it was confirmed that the manufacturer’s operation is all normal.
Southern Science Park Administration pointed out that the measured magnitude of 4, water and electricity supply is normal, and the overall operation is not affected.
The Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Taiwan Region said that there was no disaster return for all industrial parks under its jurisdiction; the Processing Division pointed out that there was no disaster return for all parks under its jurisdiction after the multiple earthquakes at 2:00 pm.
It is worth mentioning that because Taiwan itself is in the earthquake zone, earthquakes often occur, and a strong earthquake may bring greater losses to the wafer fab and panel factory.
Therefore, the local semiconductor and panel factories in the construction of the plant will take into account the risk of earthquakes, such as the requirements for the building seismic degree of resistance to more than 7, precision equipment due to the high price, the requirements for the seismic degree of resistance is also raised to more than 4 to 5, while there are various protective measures such as automatic shutdown, in the event of a strong earthquake, automatic protection measures will be activated to reduce losses.
