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To: MileHigh who wrote (30428)	9/24/1999 12:31:00 PM
From: Allen champ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

"Isn't it comical and ironic that all the major semi fabs are built around the Ring of Fire!?" The center of the world hi-tech industry in Cal. may have the same problem. Allen

To: MileHigh who wrote (30428)	9/24/1999 1:22:00 PM
From: grok	Respond to of 93625

RE: <Isn't it comical and ironic that all the major semi fabs are built around the Ring of Fire!? MileHigh> The Pac Rim is the most dynamic area both economically and tectonically.

To: MileHigh who wrote (30428)	9/27/1999 1:24:00 PM
From: Allen champ	Respond to of 93625

"Isn't it comical and ironic that all the major semi fabs are built around the Ring of Fire!? " SEMI sends experts to Taiwan, hopes to identify standards for quake protection Semiconductor Business News (09/27/99, 11:01:48 AM EDT) TAIPEI, Taiwan -- With chip makers and production systems suppliers scrambling to restart Taiwan's wafer fabs after last week's earthquake, help continues to pour into the island nation from around the world. The Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) trade group said it was rushing a team of seismic experts and professionals in environmental health and safety to help Taiwan chip makers assess the condition of their plants and production lines. SEMI also said it hopes the team of U.S. experts will help the chip industry increase its understanding of how wafer fabs and semiconductor plants should be constructed to withstand powerful earthquakes. "Significant portions of the world's chip production occurs near seismically active areas," noted Aimee Bordeaux, director of SEMI's Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS), based in Mountain View, Calif. "It is imperative that we learn from tragic events, such as the recent earthquake in Taiwan, to advance our understanding of best practices in semiconductor manufacturing facilities planning as well as those in the supporting equipment and materials industry." SEMI's investigative team will be lead by Stacy Bartoletti, an associate with structural engineering firm Degenkolb Engineers in San Francisco, and Brian Sherin, managing principal of Environmental and Occupational Risk Management Inc., a consulting company based in Sunnyvale, Calif. SEMI said the purpose of the investigation will be to identify and report on design practices that were successful in protecting structures, equipment and product as well as designs that failed to protect against the 7.6 magnitude earthquake. Most of Hsinchu's 28 wafer fabs were without full power over the weekend, and many are still assessing potential damage to gear and cleanroom systems with backup emergency power. The world's largest pure-play silicon foundries--Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. and UMC Group--have said they hoped to resume limited production in the coming week as power is restored and cleanrooms are re-qualified for wafer processing (see previous earthquake update). TSMC said last Friday it was planning to call in a full workforce as it gear up to restart chip processing (see Sept. 24 story). "The island's semiconductor industry is just beginning to understand the full impacts of the earthquake," said Stanley Myers, president of SEMI in Mountain View. "I am greatly heartened, that our office in Hsinchu reports minimal injury to the people of the semiconductor wafer fabrication, testing and assembly facilities nearby."