TSMC Urgently Evacuates Due to Taiwan Earthquake... Expert Says "Magnitude 6.2 Quake Unlikely to Affect Supply"

TSMC Temporarily Halted Operations After Last Year's Major Quake
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix: "No Significant Impact Yet"

A strong earthquake measuring 6.2 struck southern Taiwan, drawing attention to the potential impact on TSMC, which has production facilities in major Taiwanese regions including Tainan City. Domestic semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which are in the same industry, are also closely monitoring the effects the earthquake may have on their local subsidiaries and the domestic industry.

According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, a strong earthquake of magnitude 6.2 was observed around 0:17 on the 21st in Tainan City. Several houses collapsed and injuries occurred, resulting in casualties. Notably, some of TSMC's production lines in Taiwan reached evacuation levels, prompting employees to evacuate urgently. The extent of factory damage is currently being assessed.

TSMC, headquartered in Taiwan, is the world's largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company, holding over 50% market share in the global semiconductor manufacturing market. It supplies semiconductors to leading global IT companies such as Apple, Nvidia, and AMD.

Taiwan is located on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," making earthquakes frequent. In April last year, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake off the east coast of Taiwan caused damage to the Hsinchu Science Park, a key advanced process production base accounting for half of TSMC's revenue. At that time, according to Taiwan's Liberty Times, TSMC temporarily halted some equipment operations, with damages estimated at $60 million (approximately 8 billion KRW).

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Domestic companies operating in Taiwan are constantly monitoring the potential impact of earthquakes on their local subsidiaries. If TSMC's production disruptions are prolonged, it could affect domestic companies including Samsung Electronics, the largest competitor in the foundry sector.

However, immediately following the earthquake, it appears that the domestic semiconductor industry has not been affected. A Samsung Electronics official stated, "Samsung has no particular impact," adding, "Foundry operations are conducted over several years, so this does not significantly affect us."

An SK Hynix representative also explained, "There is no newly identified information yet," and added, "Since Taiwan experiences earthquakes frequently, this level of earthquake is unlikely to have a major impact on domestic companies."

Industry experts also expect some losses for TSMC itself but analyze that domestic companies will not suffer significant damage.

Lee Chang-han, former vice chairman of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, said, "Small and medium-sized enterprises that outsource semiconductors to TSMC may face some issues," but added, "However, it seems unlikely that this level of earthquake will cause major supply and demand problems."

He continued, "In the long term, there will be losses due to reduced operating days and the need for damage recovery, but (from an individual company perspective) there will be almost no problems."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.