Internet access slows to a crawl

    BEIJING, Dec. 28 -- Access to overseas websites from the Chinese mainland slowed to a crawl yesterday as a powerful earthquake off the Taiwan coast knocked off international undersea fibre-optic cables on Tuesday, affecting communications around Asia.

    It is believed to be the most serious disruption since 2001, when a submarine cable connecting the mainland with the United States was cut off more than four times, mostly by fishing boats.

    It is not clear when normal service will be restored.

Residents stay at an open area in Xiamen, a coastal city of southeast China's Fujian Province, Dec. 26, 2006. Two earthquakes -- the first measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale at 8:26 p.m. and the second measuring 6.7 at 8:34 p.m. -- hit the South China Sea on Tuesday. Strong quakes were felt in Guangdong and Fujian provinces as well as Hong Kong and Macao, but no damage or casualty reports are available.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

Earthquakes in Taiwan disrupt regional telecommunications

    BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua)-- The earthquakes that rocked Taiwan on Tuesday, killing two people and wounding at least 42, have severely disrupted telecommunications in the Taiwan, the Chinese mainland and other parts of Asia.

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