Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corp. stated it halted operations at its Ibaraki manufacturing facility to examine the constructing’s clear rooms after a magnitude-7.3 earthquake late Saturday.

The chipmaker has energy and all utility gear is functioning, however it determined to cancel Sunday’s manufacturing for detailed inspections of the clear rooms as a precaution, the corporate’s spokeswoman stated. It stays unclear when operations would resume.

The Ibaraki manufacturing facility was compelled to close down for 3 months after the 2011 earthquake, which destroyed the constructing. The Renesas spokeswoman stated the constructing appeared positive, however she declined to touch upon the resumption as workers have solely simply began inspecting the clear rooms.

There’s a worldwide scarcity of semiconductors amid booming demand for electronics, and a few auto manufacturing strains have been dropped at a standstill consequently. Virus-related provide bottlenecks have compounded the issue, leaving chipmakers pouring billions of {dollars} into new vegetation to handle the squeeze, however consumers count on it to worsen earlier than it will get higher.

The impression of Renesas’ halt on the present chip scarcity isn’t but identified. A Renesas manufacturing facility in Kumamoto got here again inside days after a quake in 2016, and caught up on manufacturing delays.