Chipmaker TSMC evacuates production lines after major Taiwan quake

Taiwan is home to several of the world's biggest semiconductor manufacturers, whose chips are used in mobile phones and cars. - Reuters

TAIPEI: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world’s largest maker of advanced chips, halted some chipmaking machinery and evacuated staff after the biggest earthquake to hit its home island in 25 years.

TSMC, the main contract chipmaker to Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp., moved staff out of certain areas and said it’s assessing the impact of a temblor measuring 7.4 in magnitude off the east coast. Smaller local rival United Microelectronics Corp. also halted machinery at some plants and evacuated certain facilities at its hubs of Hsinchu and Tainan, it said in a statement.