The death toll from a powerful earthquake in southwestern Japan has risen to 34, reports UNN citing Reuters.
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The powerful earthquake that struck southern Japan this week exposed the vulnerability of the country's supply chains, a decade after a devastating earthquake in the same region caused widespread industrial disruptions.
The magnitude 7.1 earthquake that occurred on Tuesday has claimed at least 34 lives, damaged roads, and cut off utilities to thousands of households.
It also led to the shutdown of factories in an area critical to Japan's automotive industry and known as the country's "Silicon Valley" due to the concentration of semiconductor companies.
Although economists do not expect disruptions on the scale seen after the 2016 earthquake, problems may persist for companies such as automakers, where a shortage of parts could significantly disrupt production.
For example, Toyota suspended production at three plants in Fukuoka, north of Kumamoto, until August 5, while even one of its plants in Aichi — over 600 km from the disaster site — will be idle next week.
A Toyota spokesperson said the decision to suspend was made with safety and the situation at distribution companies and suppliers in mind.
Aisin, which manufactures doors, engines, and other parts for Toyota, Daihatsu, and Nissan at a plant near the epicenter, is one of the suppliers affected by the earthquake.
The company said on Thursday that it is preparing to resume production "sequentially on lines where safety and quality can be confirmed." It is not yet determined when full operations can be restored.
Some second- and third-tier suppliers that produce parts for the largest "Tier 1" suppliers also appear to have been affected by the earthquake, one industry executive said.
Denso, the world's second-largest auto parts manufacturer, said one of its suppliers in the region reported being affected by the earthquake, while 13 others are assessing the situation.
Aisin and other Toyota group suppliers are expected to update on the impact when they publish first-quarter financial results later on Friday.
Nissan suspended part of its production at its two automobile plants on Kyushu Island due to delays in parts supply, while Mitsubishi Motors said it is halting part of its production at a plant in Okayama, western Japan.
Kumamoto has also become a global hub for semiconductor production in recent years — the tiny components that underpin products from smartphones and computers to industrial equipment and vehicles.
The world's largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), evacuated personnel from its plant in Kumamoto immediately after the earthquake on Tuesday afternoon, but said a few hours later that it had begun to resume operations.
Others were slower to act.
Chipmaker Renesas said it would be able to resume operations at one of its plants in Kumamoto, where ceiling panels collapsed, walls cracked, and there were some water leaks, only in stages from August 5.
Tokyo Electron, a key manufacturer of chip-making equipment, said it plans to resume production at its plant in the area next week. Sony, which also has a semiconductor plant in Kumamoto, said on Friday that efforts to resume production there are ongoing.
Although the death toll from the earthquake was much lower than the more than 260 people who died in 2016, nearly half of the deaths occurred at commercial facilities.
Nine people died at a Nippon Paper Industries paper mill near the epicenter, which suffered significant structural damage, causing its smokestack to collapse.
Another seven died at an Aeon shopping center, the largest in the prefecture, where a gas explosion likely occurred more than an hour after the initial earthquake.