On September, 21. 1999, the date of the iBook delivery a major earthquake of magnitude 7.6 shook Taiwan. There were approximately 2300 dead persons, almost 10000 buildings collapsed, about 7500 were seriously damaged.

The iBook manufacturer Alpha Top, located in the less affected Hsinchu region, Taiwan's Silicon Valley, was not damaged.

Understandably, the transport capacity of the island was urgently needed for supplies and due to power outages, the production stopped for one week. Apple could only deliver 6000 iBooks.