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TSMC has resumed normal operations at its Kumamoto Plant No. 1 in Japan, which had halted production following a magnitude 7.1 strong earthquake last month.
According to Kyodo News and other reports on August 4, TSMC announced that Plant No. 1, located in Kikuyo-machi, Kumamoto Prefecture, returned to full production status the previous day.
The company temporarily suspended its processes to inspect and adjust manufacturing equipment after a strong earthquake struck the Kumamoto region on July 28.
According to TSMC, a seismic intensity of upper 5—a level capable of toppling furniture on the Japan Meteorological Agency scale—was observed at Kumamoto Plant No. 1.
While the structural safety of the factory building was confirmed on the day of the earthquake, it reportedly took several days to assess the impact of the strong shaking on semiconductor production equipment.
Construction work for the company's Plant No. 2, being built near Plant No. 1, has also resumed.
Additionally, TSMC announced via its official X (formerly Twitter) account that it will donate 250 million yen (approximately 2.27 billion won) in earthquake relief funds for Kumamoto.
While the 2016 strong earthquake took months to normalize semiconductor production facilities in the region, the recovery process has proceeded relatively smoothly following this latest quake.
Tokyo Electron, a major Japanese semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker, fully resumed operations at its two plants in Kumamoto Prefecture starting August 3.
Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing, which produces image sensors and other components for the Sony Group, plans to step-by-step resume operations at its core production hub, the Kumamoto Technology Center, on August 4, aiming to return to pre-earthquake levels by mid-month, according to the Asahi Shimbun.
Renesas Electronics, an automotive microcontroller (MCU) manufacturer, is also reportedly set to resume operations at its Kawashiri plant in Kumamoto City on August 5.
The Asahi Shimbun analyzed that disaster recovery was relatively swift because, unlike the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake—where the epicenter was close to semiconductor manufacturing plants and intensity 7 shaking occurred twice in two days—this recent quake had its epicenter relatively far from major semiconductor plants and experienced only a single instance of intensity 7 shaking.
Another analysis suggested that this rapid recovery was also the result of lessons learned from the massive losses incurred during the 2016 quake, which took months to restart production, prompting the local semiconductor industry to since reinforce earthquake countermeasures such as seismic designs and establish Business Continuity Plans (BCP) to accelerate recovery.
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