At least three major manufacturing centers for camera sensors were evacuated on Tuesday, July 28, as a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Japan’s southern Kumamoto prefecture. Sony, Fujifilm, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. – a major chipmaker for camera sensors – were evacuated in the region. Japan’s southern Kumamoto prefecture, located on Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost of its four main islands, is also home to several manufacturing plants for semiconductors and camera sensors. While the 2011 earthquake highlighted the danger of concentrating manufacturing in a specific region, there’s a reason that Kumamoto is home to several sensor manufacturing plants. The region is known for its ultra-clean water, an essential resource for manufacturing image sensors.