Typhoon, quakes hit Japan

High winds and heavy rain from the third powerful typhoon to hit Japan in three weeks lashed the country's southernmost island prefecture of Okinawa yesterday, injuring at least 13 people and stranding holidaymakers.

Songda, which could be the strongest storm to hit Okinawa since records began in 1972, paralysed transport in the popular tourist destination, as most flights and ferries in and out of the prefecture were cancelled.

Waves engulfed coastal roads and buildings and Kyodo news agency said at least 13 people in Okinawa and the southern prefecture of Kagoshima had been injured.

About 32,000 households lost electric power, Kyodo added. Up to 300 millimetres of rain was forecast to fall in some areas of southern Japan in the next day.

It was unclear whether the centre of Songda would make landfall on one of Japan's four main islands, the Meteorological Office said.

Six typhoons have already done so this year, compared with an annual average of 2.6, the Meteorological Agency said.

"The typhoon season is only just beginning, so it's possible it could get a lot worse," an official at the agency said.

Since May, typhoons have killed hundreds of people in China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.

As of 8 p.m. (1100 GMT) yesterday, the centre of Songda was near the city of Nago, which is 1,600 kilometres southwest of Tokyo, the Meteorological Agency said. The storm was packing winds of up to 160 kph.

Songda follows close on the heels of Chaba, which killed at least seven people last week and Megi, which killed 13 people in Japan and South Korea last month.

The latest storm, which was moving slowly northwest, was forecast to swerve northeast along the Japan Sea coast and will likely batter many areas that are still repairing damage from the previous two typhoons.

A Taiwan weather official said earlier that Songda would miss Taiwan but it could still bring heavy rain to Taiwan's coastal areas and trigger mudslides.

Taiwan is still recovering from Typhoons Aere and Rananim. Rananim killed 164 people in eastern China last month. In Taiwan, five people are missing, presumed dead, after the storm.

Aere is blamed for at least 30 deaths in Taiwan.