Bridge Bent Like Taffy... "TSMC Halts Operations, Causing Massive Losses"

[Anchor]

Buildings collapsed, and electricity and water supplies were cut off in various other places as well. Infrastructure facilities, including railways and bridges, suffered successive damage. The industrial sector was also affected, with operations halted at TSMC, the world's largest contract semiconductor manufacturer.

Reporter Gwak Sang-eun has more.

[Reporter]

Employees on duty hurriedly hide under their desks as monitors and books fall powerlessly.

[("Is it still (happening)?" A strong earthquake has just occurred in Kumamoto.)]

In a shop strewn with merchandise, employees guide startled customers to evacuate.

[Store Employee: If there are any of you who need to leave the store urgently right now, could you please line up this way?]

Houses collapsed and shrine roofs caved in across Kumamoto, which was swept by the strong earthquake.

[Affected Area Resident: (My house collapsed.) If I had been inside at the time, I probably would have died.]

Smoke from fires rises endlessly from among the crushed buildings.

[Footage provided by Japan's Ministry of Defense: Individuals presumed to be firefighters can be seen carrying out firefighting operations at the fire scene.]

Tap water supplies were cut off to 140,000 households in Kumamoto Prefecture alone, and some 40,000 households suffered power outages.

[Affected Area Resident: The damage was greater than any earthquake I've experienced before. The house lost power, and my belongings fell and became a mess.]

A bridge crossing a river snapped in the middle and bent like taffy, and a train derailed and tipped over on its side.

Kumamoto Airport, which had closed its runways immediately following the strong earthquake, resumed operations yesterday evening (the 28th) and is operating normally, but disruptions to land transportation continue in various places.

[Japan's NTV Broadcast: As you can see, all traffic lights are out in the Yatsushiro area.]

Amid major casualties at AEON MALL and a Nippon Paper Industries plant, industrial damage also followed one after another.

TSMC, the world's largest contract semiconductor manufacturer, suspended operations at its first Kumamoto plant and resumed them after safety inspections, but the possibility was raised that tens of billions of won in losses were incurred in the process.

Construction work on its second plant under construction was also partially suspended due to concerns over aftershocks.

Toyota temporarily suspended operations at its three plants in Fukuoka, and Honda suffered water leakage and flooding damage at its motorcycle production plant.

Japan Post completely suspended counter services at post offices within Kumamoto Prefecture, leading to ongoing disruptions in regional logistics.

[Video Editing: Nam Il]
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.