Taiwan Earthquake To Impact Semiconductor Industry and Global Tech Supply Chain

Taiwan got struck by a powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake, which was the most powerful earthquake to hit the region since a 7.7 magnitude quake in 1999. The event triggered tsunami warnings across Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines, and was followed by a strong 6.5 magnitude aftershock just 13 minutes later. Reports quickly surfaced of at least 26 buildings collapsing, predominantly in Hualien County.

They say "the world is cruel place" and the latest example of same is that instead of supplying supportive aid to people who have been affected in the region, the world is more concerned for solution to the reliance on Taiwan for semiconductor manufacturing. As Taiwan is a region prone to seismic activity, the disruption could potentially lead to delays and price increases for electronic components, which would affect a wide range of products from smartphones to cars.

The earthquake halted some chipmaking operations. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest maker of advanced chips, was among the companies that had to evacuate staff and stop machinery as a precaution.

Moreover, the earthquake could have a considerable impact on the global technology supply chain. The global tech supply chain is already feeling the effects, with predictions of shortages and price hikes for key components. This incident serves as a reminder of the fragility of the global supply chain and the importance of geographic diversification in manufacturing.

Besides TSMC, Taiwan also houses United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) playing pivotal roles and is a significant supplier to the automotive industry. The earthquake prompted both TSMC and UMC to halt some production units and evacuate plants.

Given that high-end chips require continuous production processes that can span several weeks, any interruption could result in the loss of in-progress chip batches. This disruption could potentially lead to shortages or increased prices for electronic components globally, affecting everything from consumer electronics to automotive industries.

Moreover, the concentration of such a significant portion of the world's semiconductor production in a region prone to natural disasters highlights the vulnerability of the global supply chain and underscores the need for diversification and robust contingency planning.

Need for Alternative Semiconductor Hubs

There are several emerging alternative hubs for semiconductor manufacturing. India, for instance, is making significant strides in this area. The country is not only establishing semiconductor foundries but is also aiming to bring semiconductor wafer fab equipment (WFE) manufacturing in-house. This move is considered a masterstroke based on the geopolitics and geo-economics of semiconductors.

Additionally, India's government has launched initiatives like the India Semiconductor Mission and production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes to attract investments in chip manufacturing, which could make India a reliable source of semiconductors.

Japan is also positioning itself as a potential hub, with plans to develop semiconductor industries in regions like Kyushu, Tohoku, and Hokkaido. However, Japan too is an earthquake prone country. This island country sits at the junction of four tectonic plates, making it a hotspot for seismic activity and thus Japan experiences frequent earthquakes, including some of the most powerful ever recorded.

These efforts reflect a global trend towards diversifying the semiconductor supply chain and reducing reliance on traditional manufacturing powerhouses like Taiwan and China.

Researchers Introduce AI, Deep Learning Model for Improved Earthquake Forecasting

The day after the massive riots in Minneapolis and Lake Street on May 29th. Here was an O'Reilly Auto Parts that was burnt down, but right above was a billboard that remained intact that says "Coming Soon". A foreboding prediction? [Image - Parker Johnson@Unsplash ] 

Researchers from the Universities of California at Berkeley and Santa Cruz, and the Technical University of Munich recently introduced the Recurrent Earthquake foreCAST (RECAST), a deep learning model for earthquake forecasting and explore its performance on synthetic and regional earthquake data sets.

A typical earthquake forecasting relied heavily on statistical models that do not scale to fully utilize the currently available large earthquake data sets. The researchers build on recent developments in deep learning for forecasting event sequences in general to create an implementation for earthquake data.

In their recently released a paper, the researchers said that the deep learning model can use larger datasets and offer greater flexibility than the current model standard, ETAS, which has improved only incrementally since its development in 1988.

The researchers used NVIDIA GPU workstations to train the model.

The promise of RECAST is that its model flexibility, self-learning capability and ability to scale will enable it to interpret larger datasets and make better predictions during earthquake sequences.

As of now, ETAS model is the most popular model to describe frequency of earthquakes in a region and is based on the theory that every earthquake has a magnitude-dependent ability to trigger aftershocks. The ETAS model considers that the earthquake sequence comprises aftershocks (events triggered by other earthquakes) and background earthquakes (events that occur independent of other earthquakes).

RECAST is fundamentally different from ETAS. The exact functional form that relates catalog data (records of earthquake data) to the likelihood of the next event time is NOT required.

Tests on synthetic data suggest that with a modest-sized data set, RECAST accurately models earthquake-like point processes directly from cataloged data. The research paper further says that — Tests on earthquake catalogs in Southern California indicate improved fit and forecast accuracy compared to our benchmark when the training set is sufficiently long (>10⁴ events). The basic components in RECAST add flexibility and scalability for earthquake forecasting without sacrificing performance.

RECAST builds on recent developments in machine learning known as neural temporal point processes or TPPs. The model uses a general-purpose encoder-decoder neural network architecture that predicts the timing of the next event given the history of past events.

This research study is a proof of concept for the application of neural temporal point process models for earthquake forecasting. More generally, neural temporal point process models and deep learning provide important advantages. They do not require knowledge of the relationship between earthquake features to forecasting probabilities.

With the larger datasets, the researchers are starting to see improvements from RECAST over the standard ETAS model.

This new deep learning based approach allows researchers to incorporate larger data sets, potentially with more information about each earthquake

To advance the state of the art in earthquake forecasting, Dascher-Cousineau, who is one of the authors of the research papers, is working with a team of undergraduates at UC Berkeley to train earthquake catalogs on multiple regions for better predictions.


Via ~ NVIDIA Blog

Indian Entrepreneur Pulkit Ahuja Invents An Earthquake Protection Bed

• The earthquake protection mechanism uses a cocktail of sensors to automatically detect the occurrence of an earthquake within a fraction of seconds
• The mechanism activates a protective shield of reinforced canvas around the bed
• The bed acts as a safe zone if an earthquake hits a particular region

New Delhi, September 28th, 2021: Witnessing the rising intensity of earthquakes every year and their devastating effect across the globe, Indian entrepreneur Pulkit Ahuja has invented a new mechanism for beds and similar furniture to help protect lives and mitigate the effects of this natural calamity. They would automatically act as safety zones for their users in case an earthquake hits their region.

Approximately 15,000 earthquakes have been happening worldwide every year, causing numerous deaths and injuries due to the demolition of buildings and the release of debris over living beings. The most recent one being in Haiti earthquake occurrence to a few weeks ago. The higher the magnitude of the earthquake (>6.0), the higher the risk is. Such earthquakes and their impact have been on a rise over a period of time due to continuous changes in nature, rapid construction, ageing of buildings, geological faults, among other factors. The tremors hit unsuspecting areas unpredictably irrespective of circumstances.

Earthquake Protection Bed

Earthquake Protection Bed

As per the recent patent filings, the earthquake protection mechanism uses a cocktail of sensors to automatically detect the occurrence of an earthquake within a fraction of seconds and activates a protective shield of reinforced carbon fiber canvas around the bed using a sturdy U-shaped frame attached to a pair of battery-powered sync motors which are activated by the movement sensors.

This invention makes furniture including the bed one of the safest places in the house if a calamity strikes. The residents don’t have to run out or take shelter under tables or doors as a late reaction to an earthquake to prevent themselves from any falling debris. Rather with the earthquake protection bed, they can safeguard themselves within their homes even while asleep from any damage due to debris. The bed would instantaneously form a protective shield around them.

Speaking about the invention, Pulkit Ahuja who is the founder of smart helmet startup Proxgy and author of bestselling financial fiction “Googled by God” said

This reusable and retrofit-able earthquake protection mechanism would give residents in risk-prone countries and regions a cost-effective and viable option to stay safer in case a calamity strikes. The protection against falling debris and the ability of the system to keep working even during long power cuts could help save many lives.

About Proxgy

Proxgy (Everywhere as a Service Private Limited) is headquartered in Gurugram, India. Founded in 2020, Proxgy’s vision is to enable users to experience life and interact with the World on a hitherto unthought of tangent. With a combination of Live Assisted Commerce providing Everywhere as a Service (EaaSe), Proxgy aims to let users shop, travel, recce, research, visit real estate and virtually teleport themselves to anyplace of their choice at a moment’s notice.

Thermocol Could Be Future Material for Constructing Earthquake-Resistant Buildings

Thermocol could be the material of the future for construction of earthquake-resistant buildings, with thermal insulation and could also save energy required to develop construction materials.

Researchers at IIT Roorkee have found that thermocol or Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) is used as a composite material in core of reinforced concrete sandwich, could resist earthquake forces on up to four-storey buildings.

The researchers tested a full-scale building and a number of wall elements constructed with thermocol sandwiched between two layers of concrete at the National Seismic Test Facility (NSTF) of the Department of Earthquake Engineering, IIT Roorkee, developed under Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure (FIST) programme of Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India. Mr Adil Ahmad, the research Scholar who conducted the tests, evaluated the behaviour of the constructions under lateral forces, as earthquake causes a force predominantly in lateral direction.

Factory made EPS core panel

Welded wire mesh reinforcement

Building skeleton made of factory-made EPS core panels

The investigation was supplemented with detailed computer simulation of a realistic 4-storey building. Prof. Yogendra Singh, supervising the research, informed that the analysis shows that a four-storey building constructed with this technique is capable of resisting earthquake forces, even in the most seismic zone (V) of the country, without any additional structural support.

They have attributed this earthquake resistance capability to the fact that the EPS layer is sandwiched between two layers of concrete having reinforcement in the form of welded wire mesh. The researchers said that the force being applied on a building during an earthquake arises due to the inertia effect and hence depends on the mass of the building. Thermocol resists earthquakes by reducing the mass of the building.

In this technique, the EPS core and the wire mesh reinforcement is produced in a factory. The building skeleton is first erected from the factory-made core and reinforcement panels, and then concrete is sprayed on the skeleton core. This technique does not require any shuttering and hence can be constructed very fast.

Spraying and pouring of concrete over the EPS core skeleton (Top) and finished building model (Bottom)

Besides resisting earthquakes, the use of expanded polystyrene core in concrete walls of a building can result in thermal comfort. The core provides the necessary insulation against the heat transfer between building interior and exterior environment. This can help in keeping the building interiors cool in hot environments and warm during cold conditions. India suffers a large variation of temperature in different parts of the country and during different seasons of the year. Therefore, thermal comfort is a crucial consideration along with structural safety.

The technology also has the potential of saving construction material and energy, with an overall reduction in carbon footprint of buildings. It replaces a large portion of concrete volume from the walls and floor/roof. This replacement of concrete with the extremely lightweight EPS not only reduces mass, thereby decreasing the earthquake force acting on a building but also diminishes the burden on the natural resources and energy required to produce the cement concrete.

Testing of the full-scale building model in the NSTF and strain pattern obtained using the contactless Digital Image Correlation system procured through DST-FIST support

India To Have 150 Seismological Observatories By December; Earthquake Detection Capability To Increase Upto 2.5 Magnitude

35 new Seismological Observatories will become operational by December 2021-Dr Jitendra Singh

Strength of National Seismological Network (NSN) will increase to 150 by 2021

100 seismic stations will come up in the next 5 years to increase the detection capability of earthquake up to M:2.5 throughout the country

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today said 35 new Seismological

Observatories shall be commissioned and will start functioning by December 2021, as installation is already in progress. In a statement laid on the table of the Lok Sabha, he said, the strength of National Seismological Network (NSN) will increase to 150 by December 2021.

It is also planned to strengthen the National Seismological Network (NSN) further by adding 100 seismic stations in the next 5 years to increase the detection capability of earthquake up to M:2.5 throughout the country.

National Centre for Seismology under Ministry of Earth Sciences, is the nodal agency of Government of India (GoI), for monitoring and to study earthquakes in and around the country. For this purpose, NCS maintains a National Seismological Network (NSN) consisting of 115 observatories spread across the country.

The network is capable of recording any event of M:2.5 and above in and around Delhi, M:3.0 and above for NE region, M:3.5 and above in Peninsular and extra-peninsular region, M:4.0 and above in Andaman region, and M:4.5 and above in border regions. In order to spatially densify the gap areas and to improve the magnitude detection threshold down to 3.0 in the country.

Best Earthquake Tracker Apps for Android

From mildly annoying to destructively terrifying, that’s the range of earthquakes. However, to give you an advantage there are some mobile applications that you could use. There are two types of earthquake applications, the first one tracks them worldwide 24/7 where you will be available to see if an earthquake took place near your area and get alerts. And the second one is a vibration meter where they use phone sensors such as an accelerometer to measure vibrations in the area where you are and it will send you alerts if any movements are detected, or suspicious activity is happening. In the list, we will include applications from both types. Here is our list:

The American Red Cross Earthquake

Price: Free

Including earthquakes, The American Red Cross has a bunch of apps for a variety of natural disasters. To explain how it works, this application sends you Google alerts when earthquakes are happening in your area, and in addition to that, it provides a history of earthquakes that happened in your area, with additional informational resources for better preparation. It offers some tips for dealing with unexpected things that can happen along with recovery advice. This app is free, and it has no ads or in-app purchases. Occasionally the app has a few bugs.

Earthquake Network

Price: Free / $2.99

Earthquake Network is an all-in-one type of earthquake kind of app. If there are nearby earthquakes, it will alert you to using your phone to detect earthquakes. It does act as a network of sorts. When I was testing the app, there were 8.8k devices on the network and the alerts generated were a bunch of information collected by all of these phones in the network. This application uses your phone’s accelerometer as a seismograph. A history guide from 2000 and some other features are included in the free version. If you get a premium version, you will get additional options for emergencies.

Earthquake Pro

Price: Free / $3.49

EarthQuake Pro is one of the best earthquake applications. This app allows you to see earthquakes from all around the world, you can choose recent ones or past ones. Besides that, Earthquake Pro offers all the earthquake details for the events, and also it has a seismograph built-in function. The user-interface a Material Design. So this means that it is very easy to navigate through the app and is fairly easy to use app. The free version has ads, and if you want to remove all the ads you will have to use the premium version.

Earthquakes Tracker

Price: Free / $3.49

Earthquakes Trackers is one of the first earthquake applications. It offers what all the trackers offer in the industry. Some of its features include sending alerts, an interactive earthquake activity map, and offers the option to customize the alerts for your area and some other minor features. You can see how many earthquakes have happened and what their magnitude was. Moving to the premium version only removes the ads, but no other significant feature.

LastQuake

Price: Free

LastQuake is the official application of the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center (CSEM) and is developed by professional seismologists.

Crowdsourcing is the primary earthquake detection method and in the speed of light gives you the earthquake’s magnitude, It also gathers information from 86 institutes from 57 countries. It is a very simple app to use. You will get the basic features and it offers a feature where you can text your loved ones in case you are in an earthquake. It is completely free.

My Earthquake Alerts

Price: Free / $1.99

My Earthquake Alerts is a simple and solid app for earthquake detection.

It shows you earthquakes from all around the world and it allows you to create custom alerts just for your area, without any restrictions. It is a very easy app to use, you can navigate freely inside the app. After the 7.0 earthquake in Alaska back in December, more people started using this app and they seem quite happy about it. The premium version is $1.99. The only difference is the lack of ads.

Volcanoes and Earthquakes

Price: Free / $5.99

For people who want to keep track of both volcanoes and earthquakes then this app is it. It is a decent app and it shows information about both of the situations. You can see volcanoes that are expected to erupt soon or any other type of activity. There are also notifications for earthquakes from multiple locations and sources. The premium price is $5.99 which is quite expensive, however, going premium means no ads and more granular controls and information.

Vibration Meter by EXA Tools

Price: Free / $2.99

Vibration Meter by EXA works like basically all of the other ones. It will send you alerts on your phone by detecting vibrations in your phones. This app is decent for avalanches, volcanic activity, and earthquakes, the developers confirm.

The free version works well but if you pay $2.99 there will be no ads.

Bengaluru-based Netrack Introduces Seismic Rack Cabinet to Protect IT Equipment from Earthquake

Image - netrackindia.com

When a company plans to set up an IT room, there is a considerable investment they consider for purchasing the right equipment as per their need, server rack cabinets being one among the most important. A single server rack can house a piece of equipment worth thousands of dollars. System administrators need to be sure that the purchased rack will be able to handle any hardship, sudden force, vibration, or a physical threat that the surrounding environment might bring to the equipment. For instance, an earthquake is an uncalled-for event that’s inevitable; and an earthquake-proof server rack is the right solution for the same.

No matter wherever a company may be located, it would want the server and other telecommunication equipment to be operational at all times. To reduce the risk involved and minimize equipment damage, an IT rack needs to have proper seismic protection. 

Earthquakes are a significant concern for the IT industry not only because they cause damage to the equipment but also because they eventually affect the overall operations. The aim of any IT setup is to provide compute power and uptime. Compute power can be achieved by purchasing the right hardware to an extent, but the certainty of uptime needs better infrastructure. 

The rating of a seismic rack is done based on the amount of protection it provides from the shocks in the event of an earthquake. Seismic rack standards are often specified in terms of the earthquake risk zones they are made to withstand. These zones vary from 0 to 5, with zero denoting no substantial risk, while three and above denoting medium to very high risk. A seismic rack is manufactured pertaining to the requirements for physical protection for each of these zones.

The benefits of a seismic rack include its physical properties and construction. It has an enhanced base and robust anchoring hardware to hold the rack in place and well protected, like the NRSs series from Netrack India. Made for high-density application in IT industry, and for IT rooms located in medium and high-risk seismic zones, this product offers four distinctive bracing option like High Tension Bracing Bolt, Anti vibration Mount Pads, Ultra Rigid Bracing frame & Top bracing to be able to mount the rack on True floor or the raised floor based on its type for the highest level of protection. Product also tackles the Airflow management issues with the accessories like Blanking Panel, Air Seal Kit & Brush module for efficiency to ensure effective airflow management within the cabinet specifically for the Data-Center industry.

Other features of the NRSs series that make it the best-in-class seismic rack to use:

• UL certified
• Conforms to DIN 41494 or equivalent ISO/EN/EIA standards 
• Adjustable mounting depth 
• Universal 25mm pitch holes for ETSI Standard racks 
• Grounding and Bonding options 
• 2 or 4 Fan module mount provision on Top cover 

Considered as one of the top-quality seismic server racks, they undergo workshop operations such as punching and forming, followed by intense quality testing to have them adhere to the best displacement distribution required for protection from earthquakes.

When it comes to investing in something that can save a business's purpose, it is crucial to have the product checked for quality and durability. A seismic server rack is the best solution for data centers in earthquake-prone regions.

About Netrack

Netrack Enclosures Pvt. Ltd. is one of the top manufacturers of network enclosures worldwide. The company offers active network components to meet the demands of the modern-day office spaces. Their product range includes Server & Networking Racks, Wall Mount Racks, Acoustic racks, Seismic Racks, Lab Racks & Furniture, and Customized racks.

To explore more about an ideal seismic rack and how it would suit your office IT equipment, log on to www.netrackindia.com.

IIIT-Hyderabad and NMDA develop Rapid Visual Screening(RVS) Premier to mitigate Earthquake risks

The total number of buildings in India is over 30.5 Crores. 

Representative

International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT-H) and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) have developed aRapid Visual Screening (RVS) Primer for better insight into structural safety in the wake of earthquake risks. 

The primer will serve as a pioneering document to screen various kinds of buildings for their structural stability, and to assess and estimate the possible damage during an earthquake.

The total number of buildings in India is well over 30.5 Crores. Structural status of buildings before and after the earthquake will provide an effective checkpoint for government institutions, industries, private organisations and local bodies against the threats posed by earthquakes.

While disaster management has hitherto followed a relief-centric approach, the RVS Primer will assist in a moremitigation– and preparedness–centric approach with continued focus on response, which is proactive, holistic and integrated as per the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

Prof Pradeep Ramancharla, IIITH, and head of the Project team said,“Four out of five people in India are living under an earthquake threat. Focussed earthquake risk mitigation activities such as construction of buildings, compliance with design standards, and assessment and retrofitting of existing buildings can significantly reduce risk due to potential earthquake hazards”.

More details on RVS Primer at https://ndma.gov.in/images/pdf/RVS-Doc-11-2020.pdf