Earthquakes and the fragility of the Internet
In late December, a strong earthquake off Taiwan severely damaged fiber optic cables that carry voice and Internet traffic to and between Taiwan, Singapore, India and other Asian countries.
The quake snapped seven of 8 major cables in the Luzon strait between Taiwan and the Philippines. The damaged cables meant no Internet access for millions, and some people are still offline today. Many American businesses found it difficult to impossible to communicate with Asian partners.
Repair crews remain busy lifting the cables off the ocean floor and fixing them.
A month after the catastrophic Internet failure, what have we learned about the fragility of the global communications infrastructure?
Eric Schoonover, senior analyst with research firm TeleGeography, says traffic that once traveled on the damaged cables has been re-routed.