The quake that struck off Taiwan's southern coast damaged the underwater cables linking telephone and internet connections in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Japan. Two weeks may be needed before the situation gets back to normal.
Taipei (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Asia's telecommunications system is slowly getting back to normal after it was severely disrupted by an earthquake off Taiwan on 26 December that severed fibre optic cables linking the continent to the rest of the world.
Businesses and internet providers reported problems with internet connections while phone companies warned it could take weeks to repair damaged underwater cables.
The earthquake, of magnitude 7.1, struck off Taiwan's southern coast. After the quake, services in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Japan went bust.
An official with the island’s largest phone company, Chunghwa Telecom, said most of the damage would be repaired by today but millions of internet users are still having problems to connect.
The government of Hong Kong asked its citizens not to log on to overseas websites “unless for a good reason” and it dispatched a group of engineers to assess the state of the underwater cables. Au Man-ho, of the territory’s telecommunications authority, said: “Six main cables have been completely damaged and there is a remaining one with a limited capacity. At least two weeks are needed to get things back to normal.”
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