Apple supplier TSMC evacuates as earthquake hits Taiwan

Very distressing for the entire Taiwan island and people.  The death toll and destruction is sure to go up in areas where buildings collapsed and landslides occurred.  Praying and hoping the numbers are limited and there is hopeful rescues and recoveries.

absolutely mind bending there are over 100 aftershocks so far with most being over 4.0 in magnitude, the highest I saw was 6.2 which itself is a major quake.  Being on the Ring of Fire seismic activity region is no joke.

Companies should build fabs and data centers in the central plains of the US, where wind and solar resources are abundant and earthquakes are very rare. Western Kansas in particular has a great mix of wind and sun. Just be sure to build partially underground for tornado protection.

blastdoor said:

Companies should build fabs and data centers in the central plains of the US, where wind and solar resources are abundant and earthquakes are very rare. Western Kansas in particular has a great mix of wind and sun. Just be sure to build partially underground for tornado protection.

I think that’s why they chose Arizona. I knew people from there and they said weather was good and just to watch out for scorpions especially for the safety of your pet

apple4thewin said:

blastdoor said:

Companies should build fabs and data centers in the central plains of the US, where wind and solar resources are abundant and earthquakes are very rare. Western Kansas in particular has a great mix of wind and sun. Just be sure to build partially underground for tornado protection.

I think that’s why they chose Arizona. I knew people from there and they said weather was good and just to watch out for scorpions especially for the safety of your pet

Arizona definitely has great solar power potential, but I'm not so sure about wind. 

It's somewhat under appreciated, I think, that Kansas has pretty good solar potential in addition to the fantastic wind potential. 

https://neo.ne.gov/programs/stats/inf/201.htm

Kansas falls between Florida and Utah in terms of solar potential, which might not be obvious to folks who aren't familiar with that part of the country. Of course, Texas also has great potential for both wind and solar. 

Combining the two is nice because the power supply is a bit less variable that way 

Bart Y said:

Very distressing for the entire Taiwan island and people.  The death toll and destruction is sure to go up in areas where buildings collapsed and landslides occurred.  Praying and hoping the numbers are limited and there is hopeful rescues and recoveries.

absolutely mind bending there are over 100 aftershocks so far with most being over 4.0 in magnitude, the highest I saw was 6.2 which itself is a major quake.  Being on the Ring of Fire seismic activity region is no joke.

Right on.

FEMA provides an interactive map that identifies different risk probabilities for natural hazards, e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, weather, and so on across the US. Kind of cool. So far it seems like the areas that have been selected for restoring US semiconductor fab capacity are at lower risk for earthquakes, but they may face other challenges.

https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/map

(Select a different Risk Index on upper left for different risk sources.) 

Do the planners and financial supporters of mega projects use these maps as part of their site selection process? I don't know. Perhaps they are important for insurability and insurance cost reasons. My expectation is that the sites chosen are driven more by the federal, state, and local government and business leader's actions directed at stimulating the economies or gaining influence in the areas selected. In other words, I think it comes down to how well the politicians, lobbyists, and business planners in the candidate sites can influence those who are paying for the project to make it happen. Subsidies, tax abatements, cost sharing, greasing the skids to fast track any federal, state, and local environmental and regulatory hurdles, paying for infrastructure upgrades (including transportation infrastructure), access to workers, avoidance or compliance with organized labor concerns (depending on location and party affiliation), and in some cases, voter approval, and so on and so forth.

Risk assessment is definitely part of the decision-making process. How much it weighs in the overall selection criteria likely makes it a secondary concern, far lower than the money and politics factors.