TSMC2026-08-04 10:21:19TSMC Kumamoto JASM Plant Back to Full Operations After 7.1-Magnitude EarthquakeTSMC has confirmed that its JASM fab in Kumamoto, Japan, has resumed full operations after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck on July 28. The company carried out structural inspections at the plant, and the results showed no major damage. Employees at the site were reported safe, and equipment calibration has been completed. The plant, called JASM, started commercial production in late 2024 and has a monthly output of about 55,000 12-inch wafers, which amounts to less than 3 percent of TSMC's total production capacity. This incident demonstrates the resilience of the semiconductor supply chain, an important factor for both crypto mining hardware manufacturers and AI chip producers. The update was reported by CryptoBriefing and shared by Techub News. TSMC's confirmation came after the earthquake hit the Kumamoto area on July 28 with a magnitude of 7.1. All production-related systems were recalibrated before the plant resumed full operations.2230
TSMC2026-08-04 07:55:24TSMC Donates JPY 250 Million for Kumamoto Quake Relief as JASM Plant Returns to Pre-Quake OutputTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) said on Aug. 3 that it will donate JPY 250 million to support relief and reconstruction work in Japan’s Kumamoto region after the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck on July 28. The company’s JASM Kumamoto plant had temporarily halted operations and evacuated staff after the quake, but returned to its pre-earthquake production level after a week of repairs. TSMC also said its charitable foundation has launched an employee fundraising campaign. In its statement on the company’s official Japan X account, TSMC offered condolences to people affected by what it called the “Reiwa 8 Kumamoto Earthquake.” TSMC said it has been in the Japanese market for nearly 30 years and described Kumamoto as one of the key hubs in its global manufacturing footprint. Market estimates cited in the report suggest the financial hit to TSMC’s third-quarter revenue this year may be limited to about 0.03%, as JASM’s first Kumamoto fab is still ramping production and is currently producing about 20,000 wafers per month. The report added that construction at JASM’s second Kumamoto fab resumed the day after the quake, while Sony, Renesas Electronics and Tokyo Electron have also moved to restart or normalize operations in the area.280
TSMC2026-07-31 10:12:49Why TSMC stayed with Kumamoto after the 7.1 quake hit JASMA 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Kumamoto on July 28 briefly halted production at Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM), TSMC’s chip venture in the prefecture, and paused construction at its second plant. The disruption revived a familiar question in the market: why would TSMC place such a large wafer-fab investment in a high-risk seismic zone? The source article argues the answer lies less in luck than in industrial arithmetic. Kumamoto sits inside a semiconductor cluster built over roughly six decades across Kyushu, with nearby suppliers, customers, water resources and lower power costs already in place. JASM’s two plants also carry more than $20 billion in combined equipment investment, while Japanese government subsidies for the first and second fabs total about ¥1.2 trillion, covering roughly 40% of spending. The article also points to precedent. Sony suffered ¥28 billion in losses in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, yet stayed in Kikuyo and kept expanding. In that framing, the real comparison is not between risk and no risk, but between recovery costs after a quake and the far higher cost of relocating an entire supply-chain ecosystem.950
