A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan on Thursday morning. Electronics market research firm iSuppli reports that Taiwanese firms Chi Mei Optoelectronics and HannStar Display Corporation had to temporarily stop making large LCD panels in the Tainan Science Park area, for safety reasons. (The burning factory in the photo makes textiles, not LCDs.)
According to iSuppli, CMO and HannStar produce a total of 16.3 percent large-size LCD panels.
"After a shutdown, it typically takes 12 to 24 hours before production can be restarted at an LCD manufacturing fab." said iSuppli researcher Sweta Dash in a press release. "However, if there is damage to the equipment, the shutdown will last for a longer period of time."
There have been no reports yet of deaths due the quake, but thousands of people are reportedly without electrical power.
[Photo: Tsao/Getty]