TSMC resumes chip production following biggest earthquake in 25 years — incurred no damage to its critical tools

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. logo atop a building at the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

TSMC plans to bounce back quickly following a massive 7.4-magnitude earthquake that hit Taiwan Wednesday morning, leading the company to evacuate some facilities.

Now, according to a statement received by Bloomberg, it seems that TSMC's most important equipment got by largely unscathed.

"There is no damage to our critical tools including all of our extreme ultraviolet lithography tools" TSMC's statement read in part.

Wen-Yee Lee, a semiconductor reporter based in Taipei, posted a full statement on X (formerly Twitter), translating a statement that says "the recovery rate of wafer fab equipment has exceeded 70%, and the recovery rate of newly built fabs (such as Fab 18) has exceeded 80%."

According to both statements, there is some equipment damage, but the most intricate machines seem to be OK.

#TSMC latest updates tonight: “Based on TSMC's rich experience and capability in earthquake response and disaster prevention, and regular safety drills to ensure full preparedness. Within just 10 hours after the earthquake on April 3rd, the recovery rate of wafer fab equipment… pic.twitter.com/4bVySgzoxsApril 3, 2024