SHANGHAI, Mar 17 (SMM) - On the evening of March 16, earthquakes of magnitude 6.0, magnitude 7.4 and magnitude 5.6 stroke off the east coast of Honshu island, Japan. Local officials reminded residents in coastal areas of Fukushima and Miyagi to stay away from the coast and be vigilant. There may be another 6-magnitude earthquake in the coming week.

According to SMM investigation, the production of Onahama Copper Smelter owned by Mitsubishi is not affected for the time being. Besides, Saganoseki Smelter owned by PPC (refining capacity of 450,000 mt/year, brand SR-P) has finished the unplanned overhaul since the end of January and is now resuming normal production.

Japanese automobile chip maker Renesas Electronics said on the official website that its two semiconductor factories were temporarily shut down and the third factory was partially shut down.

Toyota Motor Corporation and Nissan Motor Corporation of Japan also announced that they had stopped the operation of factories in north Japan.

Toyota's factories in Iwate and Miyagi were still shut down on Thursday morning, Toyota spokesman Shiori Hashimoto wrote in an e-mail statement. The company is deciding whether to resume production later on the same day.

Japan's automobile industry, as an industry with obvious export advantages, whether it is an automobile manufacturer, a component group or a semiconductor enterprise, the earthquake may affect the production of local factories, causing certain troubles to the global automobile industry.