Taiwan's Chip Industry Learns Lessons From Past Earthquakes

TaiwanPlus News

A powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County on Saturday night, once again putting Taiwan's critical semiconductor supply chain on high alert. While the quake caused limited structural damage, economic losses to the country's critical chip industry is a constant concern. TaiwanPlus looks at what lessons the sector learned from past quakes and how the industry has prepared.

Transcript

00:00A magnitude 7 earthquake strikes just off Taiwan's east coast on Saturday night.

00:08Though no injuries were reported and damage was limited,

00:11analysts say quakes like these pose a special threat to the country's dominant chip industry.

00:30There are many ways an earthquake can disrupt production, but one example is lithography.

00:41Modern ships use extreme ultraviolet light to print intricate circuit patterns onto wafers,

00:46tens of thousands of times thinner than a human hair.

00:49Even a tiny imperfection can be a hugely expensive mistake.

00:53Other potential problems include disrupted power supply or broken equipment.

00:58And Taiwan has learned this the hard way.

01:01Chip giant TSMC estimated more than $92 million in quake-related losses

01:06from another large earthquake that struck eastern Taiwan last year.

01:14In 1999, one of the country's deadliest quakes triggered widespread power failures,

01:19and researchers have estimated about $400 million in semiconductor losses.

01:25But that's why modern fab construction uses seismic isolation and structural dampening to absorb shaking.

01:31Machines are programmed to detect early seismic signals and to automatically shut down.

01:36In this most recent quake, TSMC reported that 70% of its equipment was back online within a day.

01:43Some fabs have reported damage to equipment, but many have yet to detail the full extent of possible impacts from the quake.

02:04Still, Taiwan's chip industry continues to operate under a few principles.

02:08Shut down fast, restart safely, and keep the world's supply moving.

02:12Joseph Wu and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.

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