No major damage to semiconductor fabs in Taiwan after 6.1 earth quake hit

Date: 27/03/2013
An earth quake of magnitude 6.1 has hit Taiwan this morning at 10:03 am (local time). The epicenter was near Nantou county of central Taiwan. It is reported one person dead and 19 were injured. No majors damages reported.

World's number one semiconductor foundry TSMC, which has fabs in the region has evacuated the staff from two of its factories. No major damage reported from any of the electronics and semiconductor factories.

Semiconductor fabs are built to withstand the quakes in the range of 6-7. However the production will be impacted on short-term basis due to sudden halt of manufacturing process resulting in wastage of semiconductor wafers. Even a power failure can cause silicon wafer loss to chip foundries.