On July 28, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing fell 3.1% in regular trading, trading at $384.1/share, with turnover of $879 million. The decline was triggered by a magnitude 7+ earthquake striking Kumamoto, Japan, where TSMC operates its JASM wafer fabrication facility.

The earthquake intensity at the JASM site reached evacuation thresholds, prompting TSMC to immediately evacuate all employees as a precautionary measure. TSMC subsequently confirmed all personnel were safe and that production operations were gradually resuming, with partial construction work temporarily suspended. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary also stated there was no reported damage to the Kumamoto wafer fab as of that time. Despite limited actual damage, the market remained concerned about potential capacity interruption risks.

The broader semiconductor sector experienced significant weakness on the same day, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index having previously retreated over 20% from its peak, entering a technical bear market. Within the sector, Micron Technology fell 8.86%, Advanced Micro Devices dropped 8.03%, SK hynix declined 7.11%, Intel lost 5.93%, and NVIDIA slid 1.12%, reflecting sustained capital outflows from high-valuation chip stocks.

(The above content is based on publicly available market information, generated by a program or algorithm, and is intended solely as a stock movement alert. It does not constitute investment advice or a basis for trading decisions.)