On April 3, many earthquakes occurred in Hualien County, Taiwan, with the maximum magnitude of 7.3.
This earthquake affected the semiconductor industry, which accounts for about 20% of Taiwan's total manufacturing output. As a highland of the global semiconductor industry, Taiwan has a number of semiconductor giants such as TSMC, the world's number one chip manufacturer, Liandian, the fourth largest manufacturer, and Li Jidian. The related factories are mainly concentrated in Hsinchu Science Park and Tainan Science Park.
Taking Hsinchu Science Park as an example, it is the most important technology industry base in Taiwan, with an annual output value equivalent to 14% of Taiwan's GDP.
According to a report from the Securities Times, the Hsinchu Science Park Management Bureau reported that due to the earthquake occurring during working hours, it not only caused traffic chaos within the park, but also led to night shift workers in various science and technology factories seeking refuge outside.
A spokesperson for TSMC stated that in order to ensure personnel safety, according to the company's internal procedures, some factory areas have been evacuated, and the damage is still being investigated.
According to a report from First Financial, regarding the impact of the earthquake, TSMC stated that although a few equipment in some factories were damaged and affected some production lines, the main machines, including all extremely ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment, were not damaged. "Within 10 hours after the earthquake, the recovery rate of wafer fab equipment has exceeded 70%, and the recovery rate of newly built wafer fabs (such as the 18th wafer fab) has exceeded 80%. TSMC is currently maintaining close communication with customers and will continue to closely monitor and communicate directly with customers in a timely manner regarding the impact." TSMC said.
However, there are still reports that the impact of this earthquake on TSMC's second quarter finances is about $60 million. TSMC stated that this news was not released by TSMC.
As of the close on April 3rd, TSMC's stock price was at $142, up 1.27%, with a total market value of $736.5 billion.
According to Reference News Network, due to the impact of the earthquake, TSMC and other wafer production lines have experienced production line fragmentation and shutdowns, which has affected Nvidia's AI chip manufacturing and even alarmed overseas memory factories such as Samsung to suspend quotations.
Industry insiders analyze that the yellow light area inside the wafer fab is most afraid of earthquakes. When a strong earthquake occurs on the 3rd, all the yellow light areas inside the wafer fab will inevitably be affected, and furnace tubes and other devices will also be affected. Wafers produced online must be scrapped and restarted. In addition, advanced processes use extremely ultraviolet (EUV) equipment with precise design, and the production line needs to be temporarily suspended for maintenance. In addition, continuous aftershocks will also interfere with the recovery status of the production line, affecting output.
The industry pointed out that based on the statements from various factories on the 3rd, the impact of inventory by each factory will take four to five days, and major factories are urgently dispatching more rotating equipment engineers to respond. Based on the estimated monthly revenue of various businesses, the seven major wafer fabs in Taiwan suffered a loss of over 10 billion yuan in the value of online wafer production after the strong earthquake on the 3rd.
It is worth noting that will this earthquake have adverse effects on the global chip industry chain?
  "However, because Micron is targeting the contract price market, they have only been quoting for a short time, and the impact of the spot market is not that significant, after all, there are still sources of goods in the market."

  Meiguang expresses deep condolences to the disaster victims and their families. "At present, the impact of Meiguang's local production operation and supply chain is still being evaluated, and we will continue to communicate with customers about the supply situation."
Zhang Binlei, the research director of Xinmou Research, told reporters that for wafer fabs, the impact of this earthquake is not only on the factory itself, but also on the upstream raw material supply chain. Many material manufacturers have warehouses or production bases in Taiwan, and if these materials are contaminated, it is difficult for wafer factories to directly detect them. Therefore, the biggest concern for manufacturers should be whether suppliers will have a lucky mentality, after all, materials such as photoresist or grinding fluid are stored in barrels, which may directly give them to wafer factories, thereby affecting yield. "The more advanced the process, the higher the sensitivity to pollution."
In addition, the current popularity of ChatGPT has led to a surge in demand for artificial intelligence servers, especially Nvidia's GPU demand. In response to the surge in demand and increased competition in the CoWoS (chip on wafer) market, industry news shows that TSMC has added equipment orders multiple times since the second quarter of 2023.

Besides semiconductors, panels are also another major technology pillar industry in Taiwan. According to Interface News, statistical data from research firm CINNO shows that Taiwanese panel companies have accounted for 14% of global revenue. After the earthquake, two panel manufacturers, Qunchuang Optoelectronics and Youda Optoelectronics, told local media that personnel are currently safe and the actual impact is being evaluated.
On the evening of April 3rd, a panel industry insider stated in an interview with the Daily Economic News that currently, the impact of the Taiwan earthquake on the panel industry is limited, and further information is needed.
According to Zhang Hong, Research Director of the Large Screen Division at Sigmantell, as a major producer of LCD panels in Taiwan, panel factories such as Youda, Qunzhuang, and Hanyu Caijing have numerous LCD panel production lines in the region. After the earthquake, all panel production lines were temporarily shut down. As of the afternoon of April 3rd, Qunchuang's G6 (Fab6) has resumed production, Youda's G8.5 (8B) has resumed production, and most other production lines are still in a state of shutdown for maintenance. Due to the shutdown of the panel production line before resuming production, equipment maintenance and product quality reconfirmation are required. Without more severe aftershocks, it is expected to cause a production capacity loss of 2 to 3 days for Taiwan's LCD panel production line.