Kumamoto Earthquake Day 2: TSMC Resumes Construction at New Plant Site; JASM Utilities Normal, Resources Dispatched to Support Equipment Calibration

On the second day after the strong earthquake in Kumamoto, Japan, recovery operations continue at Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM), a subsidiary of TSMC (2330). TSMC announced today (29th) that construction at the JASM plant construction site has resumed after safety inspections confirmed no earthquake damage. Water, power, and safety systems at the mass production facility are operating normally, and raw material supplies remain secure.

However, due to the significant seismic intensity, production equipment requires individual inspection and calibration, which is expected to take time. TSMC has already dispatched resources to support this process and is maintaining close communication with customers.

JASM recorded a maximum seismic intensity of 5 during the quake. On April 28, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kumamoto, followed by multiple aftershocks. TSMC stated that the JASM wafer fabrication facility in Kumamoto measured a maximum intensity of 5. Immediately after the quake, internal safety protocols were activated, and personnel were evacuated promptly.

TSMC emphasized that "personnel safety is the top priority," and all evacuated staff have been confirmed safe. Post-earthquake structural inspections of the JASM facility have been completed, confirming the building's integrity.

Compared to the first day, when only personnel evacuation and structural safety could be confirmed, the second day’s assessment expanded to include utilities, safety systems, production equipment, raw material supply, and construction progress. Public attention has now shifted from emergency response to when production lines will fully resume.

Regarding the status of the mass production facility, TSMC reported that JASM’s water, power, and safety systems are all functioning normally. For a semiconductor fab, stable power, process water, and safety systems are essential for maintaining cleanroom and equipment operations. The confirmation of these core systems supports subsequent equipment checks, calibration, and production recovery.

TSMC also confirmed that raw material supplies are unaffected after inventory checks. This indicates that the main factor affecting recovery speed is not utility outages or material shortages, but rather the time required to inspect, adjust, and recalibrate precision manufacturing equipment.

However, normal utility and material supply does not mean all production equipment and capacity have been fully restored. TSMC has not yet disclosed the percentage of equipment inspections completed, the extent of capacity recovery, or whether any in-process wafers were damaged.

TSMC stated that equipment inspection and calibration at JASM are ongoing. Due to the high seismic intensity, adjusting and recalibrating equipment is expected to take time.

Wafer manufacturing equipment is highly sensitive to vibration, leveling precision, and process parameters. Even if the building structure, utilities, and safety systems are intact, tools such as lithography, etching, thin-film deposition, and automated wafer handling systems must be individually verified according to safety procedures. In-process wafers on the production line also require further quality and process status evaluation.

TSMC noted that after assessment, resources have been dispatched to support JASM, though it did not specify the source or nature of these resources. It remains unclear whether this includes engineering personnel, equipment components, or other recovery assets.

TSMC emphasized that it is comprehensively reviewing the earthquake’s impact and maintaining close communication with customers. This implies that equipment calibration progress, actual capacity, and future delivery schedules are still being dynamically assessed. It cannot yet be concluded that JASM has fully resumed normal operations or that the quake caused no wafer or capacity loss.

Construction at the new plant site has also resumed. TSMC stated that the construction site itself was unaffected by the earthquake. Some work was temporarily suspended on the 28th due to potential aftershocks, as a precaution for personnel safety. After reconfirming site safety, construction resumed on the 29th.

In other words, the temporary halt was a preventive measure, not due to structural, facility, or equipment damage. TSMC has not indicated whether the brief suspension has affected the overall construction timeline.

JASM’s first wafer fab in Kumamoto began production at the end of 2024, supporting applications in automotive, industrial, consumer electronics, and high-performance computing. The second fab is scheduled to begin construction in 2025, further expanding JASM’s process technology and production capacity.

From the second-day assessment, personnel safety, building integrity, utilities, safety systems, and raw material supply at JASM have all been confirmed. Construction has resumed. However, the final determining factors for the actual operational impact of this earthquake remain: how long equipment calibration will take, whether in-process wafers were affected, and when full production capacity will be restored.