A 6.4-magnitude earthquake hits Taiwan, prompting chipmaker TSMC to evacuate factories

TAIPEI – A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck a mountainous and rural area in southern Taiwan on January 21, the island's meteorological department said, and local authorities said three people were briefly trapped in a collapsed house and two were stuck in elevators.

The Meteorological Department said that the earthquake was at a depth of 9.4 kilometers and its epicenter was in the town of Dabo in Chiayi Province.

Meanwhile, the US Geological Survey estimated the earthquake's magnitude at 6.0.

The shallow earthquake caused buildings in the capital, Taipei, to shake when it occurred at 12:17 a.m. local time, 12 kilometers north of Yujing, a mango-growing area in southern Taiwan.

No major damage was reported.

Local fire authorities rescued three people, including a child, who were trapped in a house that collapsed in another area near the epicenter.

Elsewhere, one person was injured by falling debris, while authorities reported that two people were trapped in elevators.

In the city of Chiayi, about 40 kilometers north of Yujing, surveillance camera footage inside a nut shop, shared on Threads and confirmed by AFP, showed shelves shaking and goods falling to the ground.

An AFP journalist in Taipei felt their residential tower shake for about a minute.

The Chiayi Fire Department also said there were no reports of major casualties so far in the city, while an official in Dabo, who gave his last name as Chi, told Reuters that power outages had been reported in some villages and some buildings were damaged.

Chipmaker TSMC said it had evacuated employees at its factories in central and southern Taiwan, and that they were all safe. The Tainan Science Park, home to major factories including TSMC, said the buildings had been evacuated.

Taiwan is located near the intersection of two tectonic plates, and is prone to earthquakes. In 1906, the Meishan earthquake near Chiayi killed more than 1,200 people.

The last major earthquake to hit Taiwan was last April, with a magnitude of 7.2 hitting Hualien County on the east coast, killing 13 people.

More than 100 people were killed in an earthquake that struck southern Taiwan in 2016, and a 7.3-magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,000 people in 1999.

Since then, Taiwan has updated and strengthened its building codes to include earthquake-resistant construction methods, such as steel bars that allow the building to sway more easily when the ground moves.

Some major buildings designed before the 1999 earthquake already included vibration protection features.

The government also requires that structures built before the introduction of the updated laws be strengthened.

These old buildings are often the main cause of concern during earthquakes. There were complaints until 2018 about a lack of funding to strengthen such structures.

Known for its high-tech companies, Taiwan has created an advanced early warning system that can alert the public to the possibility of dangerous earthquakes within seconds.

The system has been improved over the years to include new gadgets such as smartphones and high-speed data connectivity, even in some of the most remote areas of the island. Agence France-Presse, Reuters

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