A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan’s southern Chiayi county on Tuesday, causing minor injuries and damage to houses and prompting evacuations at a prominent chipmaker’s factories.
The earthquake struck near the Dapu township at 12.17am local time, with its epicentre located 38km southeast of Chiayi County Hall, at a depth of 10km, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration.
The quake shook buildings as far as Taipei and prompted evacuations at chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) factories, local media reported.
TSMC confirmed in a statement that evacuations were conducted at its facilities in the Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung and the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan as part of its emergency response protocols.
Rescuers reported no major casualties, but 27 people sustained minor injuries, including six rescued from a collapsed house in Tainan city.
TSMC said all of its employees were safe. Nikkei Asia reported that workers returned to their job sites hours after the quake.
The earthquake struck near Chiayi where TSMC operates clusters of its cutting-edge chip plants that supply AI and mobile processors to global companies such as Nvidia, Apple, and Advanced Micro Devices.
A video shared on Facebook showed local fire authorities rescuing three individuals, including a child, from a house that had collapsed in the nearby Nanxi district.
In Nanxi district, the ceilings of several houses caved in. Elsewhere, one person sustained injuries from falling debris, and two others were reported trapped in elevators, according to authorities.
The health ministry confirmed a total of 27 injuries, while the Nanxi district fire brigade stated that “no major damage” had been reported.
The earthquake triggered a fire at a printing factory in Chiayi, but it was quickly extinguished, and no injuries were reported
Taiwan, situated near the junction of two tectonic plates, is highly prone to earthquakes. The Meishan earthquake near Chiayi in 1906 claimed over 1,200 lives.
The island’s most recent major earthquake occurred in April, when a 7.2-magnitude tremor struck Hualien on the east coast, resulting in 13 deaths.
Additional reporting by agencies
