Taiwan hit by the strongest earthquake in 25 years

A powerful earthquake in eastern Taiwan left at least one person dead and at least fifty injured on Wednesday morning. Dozens of apartment buildings have collapsed.

The earthquake occurred in eastern Taiwan and measured 7.2 on the Richter scale. This makes it the strongest earthquake since 1999, when more than two thousand people died.

The city of Hualien, which is closest to the epicenter, appears to be the hardest hit. At least two apartment buildings have collapsed. But dozens of other buildings have collapsed and are on the verge of collapse. The earthquake left at least one person dead and at least fifty injured.

The earthquake could also have consequences for the global chip industry. Taiwanese TSMC, which as the world’s largest chip manufacturer, is a main supplier to Apple and is also fully capitalizing on the boom in artificial intelligence, had to shut down part of its production and evacuate certain of its sites. United Microelectronics, a smaller sector peer of TSMC, also temporarily halted production.

Shortly after the quake, Taiwan, as well as Japan and the Philippines, announced a tsunami alert. But that alarm has now been lifted.