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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