(Yicai) April 3 -- Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, high-density interconnector producer Unitech Printed Circuit Board and other Chinese companies have suspended operations at some plants and taken other measures to ensure the safety of their staff after the strongest earthquake in 25 years rocked the east coast of Taiwan early this morning.

Some factories have been evacuated to ensure the safety of employees, a TSMC spokesperson told Yicai. At present all staff members are safe and accounted for and will start to return to work soon. The initial inspection of the factory site under construction in Chiayi has shown no damage but building has been suspended due to safety concerns.

Production at a Unitech factory in the Lize Industrial Zone of Taiwan’s Yilan county was slightly affected but the earthquake did not cause a lot of damage, the Taipei-based company said. Manufacturing has been suspended as an inspection is carried out but operations should resume before noon.

Want Want Group does not have factories near Hualien county, which was hardest hit by the earthquake, the Taipei-based food producer told Yicai. So production is continuing as normal.

Four people have died in the earthquake that occurred in the sea at a depth of around 12 kilometers and about 14 kilometers away from Hualien at 7.58 a.m., according to Taiwan’s fire department. Some 711 people have been injured and 77 are trapped.

Travellers can apply to cancel hotel bookings in and air tickets to affected areas, travel platforms Ctrip, Tongcheng and Fliggy said.

Parts of the ceiling in the second terminal of Taoyuan Airport collapsed after the earthquake, but most flights are taking off and landing as normal, Yicai learned.

In order to ensure the safety of trains and passengers, some railway services, such as the Meishan line, were suspended, and many trains were delayed, Guangzhou Railway said.

Most people living in high-rise buildings in Shanghai felt the earthquake, but there was no damage to the city, the Shanghai Earthquake Bureau said.

Editor: Kim Taylor