Bashi Channel

Bashi is the northern channel of Luzon Strait

The Bashi Channel (Chinese: 巴士海峽 or 巴士海峡; pinyin: Bāshì hǎixiá) is a waterway between Y'Ami Island of the Philippines and Orchid Island of Taiwan. It is a part of the Luzon Strait in the Pacific Ocean. It is characterized by windy storms during the rainy period, June to December.

The Bashi Channel is an important passage for military operations. Both Taiwan and the Philippines dispute the ownership of the waters because both sides say the region lies within 200-nautical-mile from their shores. The channel is also significant to communication networks. Many of the undersea cables that carry data and telephone traffic between Asian countries pass through the Bashi Channel, making it a major point of failure for the Internet. In December 2006, a magnitude 6.7 submarine earthquake cut several undersea cables at the same time, causing a major communications bottleneck that lasted several weeks.[1][2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Earthquakes Disrupt Internet Access in Asia; A Series of Powerful Earthquakes Damages Undersea Cables and Interrupts Internet Connections in Asia". Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved December 27, 2006.
  2. ↑ PINR report, Taiwan Quake Exposes Internet Vulnerability, published 15 January 2007

Coordinates: 21°25′N 121°30′E / 21.417°N 121.500°E / 21.417; 121.500


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