An earthquake killed at least one person and disrupted operations at some electronics factories in central Taiwan on Wednesday morning, but the rest of the island was largely unscathed.
The Central Weather Bureau said the 6.1-magnitude quake struck at 10:03 a.m. local time and was centered in Nantou County at a depth of 15.4 kilometers. Aftershocks as strong as 4.3 in magnitude rattled the area for the next 2½ hours. The initial temblor shook buildings in the capital, Taipei, 120 kilometers to the north.
A wall that collapsed killed a 72-year-old woman at a temple in Nantou County, the National Fire Agency said, adding that 19 other people across central Taiwan were injured, mostly by falling objects. Among the injured was a person struck by a section of ceiling at a government office in Nantou County, the fire agency said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.the world's largest contract chip maker by revenue, evacuated two of its factories in central and northern Taiwan after the earthquake. But a spokesman for the Hsinchu-based company said employees had returned to work and that the quake had a "minimal impact" on production.
On Wednesday afternoon, flat-panel maker AU Optronics Corp. said operations at some of its facilities in central Taiwan remained suspended. Innolux Corp. said its production wasn't affected.
At The Wall Street Journal's Taipei office, the quake was felt for at least 15 seconds and the ceiling shook violently.
Television footage showed large boulders littering roads in central Taiwan, as well as books scattered on the floor of a public library and home interiors sprinkled with broken glass, fallen wall tiles and other debris.
Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is frequently hit by earthquakes. The last major quake—a magnitude 7.6 temblor that killed more than 2,000 people—struck in 1999 and was also centered in Nantou County.
The Central Weather Bureau said the 6.1-magnitude quake struck at 10:03 a.m. local time and was centered in Nantou County at a depth of 15.4 kilometers. Aftershocks as strong as 4.3 in magnitude rattled the area for the next 2½ hours. The initial temblor shook buildings in the capital, Taipei, 120 kilometers to the north.
A wall that collapsed killed a 72-year-old woman at a temple in Nantou County, the National Fire Agency said, adding that 19 other people across central Taiwan were injured, mostly by falling objects. Among the injured was a person struck by a section of ceiling at a government office in Nantou County, the fire agency said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.the world's largest contract chip maker by revenue, evacuated two of its factories in central and northern Taiwan after the earthquake. But a spokesman for the Hsinchu-based company said employees had returned to work and that the quake had a "minimal impact" on production.
On Wednesday afternoon, flat-panel maker AU Optronics Corp. said operations at some of its facilities in central Taiwan remained suspended. Innolux Corp. said its production wasn't affected.
At The Wall Street Journal's Taipei office, the quake was felt for at least 15 seconds and the ceiling shook violently.
Television footage showed large boulders littering roads in central Taiwan, as well as books scattered on the floor of a public library and home interiors sprinkled with broken glass, fallen wall tiles and other debris.
Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is frequently hit by earthquakes. The last major quake—a magnitude 7.6 temblor that killed more than 2,000 people—struck in 1999 and was also centered in Nantou County.
Source: WallStreetJournal
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