Undersea cable repairs could take 2 more weeks

Three weeks after a strong earthquake jolted sea areas south of the island of Taiwan, its impact is being felt by Internet users plagued by slow connectivity.

It will take up to two weeks more to repair the undersea cables that were damaged, sources said yesterday. The original deadline was for them to be fully operational by yesterday.

The quake, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, ruptured fiber-optic cables that cross the ocean floor south of Taiwan, affecting telecommunication traffic between the mainland and Taiwan, Hong Kong, the United States, Southeast Asia and Europe. Millions of people on the mainland are enduring slow Internet speeds after the quake.