Toshiba said on Monday that it had suspended operations at a plant in Oita, southern Japan that makes semiconductors used in cars and industrial machinery, after a strong earthquake hit the area at the weekend.

Some equipment had been damaged and the company was still analysing the impact on production, Toshiba said in a statement.

The plant makes system LSI chips, around 60 percent of which are sold to carmakers and industrial machinery makers, a spokesperson for Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage said.

Toshiba does not yet know when it can restart production and will likely provide an update on Tuesday, he added.

The company also makes system LSI chips at a factory in northern Japan, with other domestic producers, such as Renesas Electronics, also building the devices.

© Thomson Reuters 2022