Communication blow as quakes hit Taiwan
China was thrown into communication havoc yesterday in the wake of Tuesday night's earthquakes which rocked Taiwan on the second anniversary of the tsunami tragedy in southern Asia.
The quakes, which killed two people ,injured 42, and damaged undersea cables,cut off most Chinese mainlanders from access to overseas websites and international calls.
Experts said it will take up to three weeks to repair the cables.
China Telecom and China Netcom said they have started to launch low speed backup network connection systems in the interim.
The earthquakes also disrupted telecommunication in Taiwan, and other parts of Asia.
Lin Jen-hung ,vice general manager of Chunghwa Telecom Co. ,Taiwan's largest phone company, said that the quakes closed 98 percent of Taiwan's communications capacity with Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Hong Kong.
China Telecom said at least six of its cable in the sea south of Taiwan had been cut, affecting telecommunications between the mainland, Taiwan ,the United States and Europe.
Local earthquake experts said there would be aftershocks measuring above five on the Richter scale over the coming week.
People cannot visit most English language websites, including yahoo.com and eBay.com.
Also out are Microsoft's e-mail service hotmail.com, and MSN.
International fixed-line phones were affected by the quakes, which had their epicenter 15 kilometers south of Taiwan and hit at 8:26pm and 8:34pm.
We are trying to use other channels, such as renting satellites and overseas carrier;s cables to resume connection as soon as possible",said China Telecom.
It will take some time to finish the repairs said an unidentified source at the China Submarine Cable Construction Co. , which is in charge of building and maintenance of the cables.
CCTV reported yesterday that the repair will take 3 weeks.
More than 97 percent of Netizens said they were affected, according to an online survey of 35,000 participants conducted by sina.com
The shocks were also felt in several cities in Guangdong and Fujian provinces and in Hong Hong.
