A July 28 quake forced suspension of production at multiple semiconductor fabs in Kyushu, which hosts more than 700 semiconductor-related firms. An Aug. 1 inspection found most factory exteriors intact but said strong shaking requires equipment adjustment and recalibration, delaying restarts. Sony, TSMC and Tokyo Electron facilities remain offline, with the earliest restarts targeted for next week. After the 2016 Kumamoto quake many local fabs took a month or longer to regain pre-quake capacity;

A July 28 quake forced suspension of production at multiple semiconductor fabs in Kyushu, which hosts more than 700 semiconductor-related firms. An Aug. 1 inspection found most factory exteriors intact but said strong shaking requires equipment adjustment and recalibration, delaying restarts. Sony, TSMC and Tokyo Electron facilities remain offline, with the earliest restarts targeted for next week. After the 2016 Kumamoto quake many local fabs took a month or longer to regain pre-quake capacity; recovery timing for this event is unclear, posing a material risk to Japan’s semiconductor supply chain.