East Asian connectivity degrades for weeks
The simultaneous loss of most of the region's westward and eastward capacity produced the largest connectivity failure of the fibre era to that date. Contemporary operator statements as retrieved describe Chunghwa Telecom reporting complete loss of internet capacity to Hong Kong and South-East Asia and about three-quarters to mainland China; PCCW in Hong Kong reporting more than half its data capacity down; and the mainland carriers reporting the loss of the great majority of their traffic to the United States and Europe. Banking, booking and trading systems that depended on links to Hong Kong and Tokyo were affected across the region. Traffic was progressively restored as capacity was rerouted, but speeds remained degraded for roughly seven weeks.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Redundancy and restoration in the cable network · concept · not located
- The Luzon Strait · maritime region · Western Pacific
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
Submarine cables cut after the Taiwan earthquake of December 2006
Supports the reported operator impacts — Chunghwa Telecom's complete loss of capacity to Hong Kong and South-East Asia and about 74 per cent to mainland China, PCCW's loss of more than half its data capacity, the mainland carriers' loss of more than 90 per cent of traffic to the United States and Europe — and the deployment of eleven cable ships with degraded service for about seven weeks. V55 verification basis: retrieved in summary, not opened. This is trade reporting of operator statements made during an incident, not audited measurement, and the percentages are the operators' own.
submarinenetworks.com · Partly verified
submarinenetworks.com record of the December 2006 Taiwan earthquake cable cuts, the operator capacity statements and the repair operation
Recorded on Redundancy and restoration in the cable network
- The Hengchun earthquake doublet off southern Taiwan
- Cables in the Luzon Strait break in sequence over nine hours
- East Asian connectivity degrades for weeks
- Both cables to the Matsu Islands are cut within six days
- Four cables fail off Côte d'Ivoire and thirteen countries lose connectivity
- SMW4 and IMEWE are cut near Jeddah
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- SMW4 and IMEWE are cut near Jeddah · 2025-09-06
- Four cables fail off Côte d'Ivoire and thirteen countries lose connectivity · 2024-03-14
- Both cables to the Matsu Islands are cut within six days · 2023-02-02 – 2023-02-08
- The Hengchun earthquake doublet off southern Taiwan · 2006-12-26 12:26 UTC
- Cables in the Luzon Strait break in sequence over nine hours · 2006-12-26 – 2006-12-27