Southern Japan has been hit by the strongest earthquake in 10 years. TSMC and Sony have factories there.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 struck southern Japan—in Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu— according to NHK. According to the Japanese seismic intensity scale, it reached the highest possible level, the network notes. Japan has not experienced tremors of this magnitude since the January 2024 earthquake on the Noto Peninsula, and Kumamoto Prefecture has not seen an earthquake of this magnitude since April 2016.

As a result of the incident, thousands of buildings were left without power, dozens of roads were destroyed, rail service—including high-speed trains—was suspended, and people were trapped under the rubble. According to Reuters, there are reportedly fatalities following the partial collapse of the Aeon shopping center, where an explosion occurred after the earthquake. Local television station TBS has confirmed this information, citing police sources. So far, according to NHK, 50 injured people are known to have been hospitalized.

The earthquake-affected area is also home to factories operated by companies such as Sony and TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer, according to Seeking Alpha. A Sony spokesperson stated that the company is verifying reports of possible damage resulting from the incident. TSMC later stated that it had immediately evacuated all employees from the facility. A spokesperson for the Japanese government noted that “there have been no reports of damage related to the TSMC plant in Kumamoto so far.” The prefecture is home to TSMC’s Japanese subsidiary, JASM (Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing), explains the Korean publication CHOSUNBIZ.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell nearly 4% on July 28.

Ten years ago, a powerful earthquake in Kumamoto killed 275 people and injured another 2,739.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor