An undersea earthquake off the coast of Taiwan damaged underwater communications cables, hurting technology and banking services in much of Asia. All data and voice traffic had to go through the remaining undamaged cables and satellites, slowing down or cutting off a lot of communication and transactions. With many executives and traders taking time off for the holiday season, the impact was not as great as it could have been, but the halting of trading of the Korean won and the slowdown of trading in other Asian markets affected financial markets around the world. Several ships have set out from Singapore and the Philippines to fix the cables, and repairs may take up to a week.