Seven million people across Japan’s south-west have been told to evacuate their homes as powerful Typhoon Haishen skirts the country on its way to the Korean peninsula.
Key points:
- Four people are missing in Miyazaki, Japan after the building they were in was swept away in a landslide
- Thirty-five people have been injured in the region and 400,000 homes remain without power
- Officials have evacuated almost 1,000 people in South Korea
In Miyazaki, on the eastern side of Kyushu Island, four people are missing after the building they were in was swept away in a landslide.
Another 35 people have been injured and 400,000 homes remain without power, while flights and bullet train services were suspended.
At its peak, gusts of more than 200 kilometres per hour hit Nomozaki in Nagasaki Prefecture.
On Tsushima island, situated in the Sea of Japan halfway between Kyushu and South Korea, wind speeds his 155kph.
On Monday morning, the storm system was 110 kilometres north of Tsushima and heading towards South Korea at a speed of 40kph.
The affected areas of Japan recorded hundreds of millimetres of rain over the 48 hours to Monday, with more expected over the next 24 hours.
While millions of people have been told to evacuate, it is unlikely they will all head to evacuation centres. Those close to rivers and in low-lying areas are likely to be at most risk.
So far, no rivers have exceeded flood levels.
After hitting southern Japan, Typhoon Haishen is tracking towards South Korea.(AP: Kyodo News)
Some evacuation centres have turned people away in order to prevent coronavirus infections.
The region is still recovering from heavy rains and flooding in July that killed 83 people.
The search for survivors from a live export ship feared lost in the East China Sea remains suspended because of the weather conditions.
Two Australians are among the 40 people still unaccounted for.
Another lashing for the Korean peninsula
Typhoon Haishen is the second big storm system to smash the Korean peninsula in a week, after Typhoon Maysak left at least two dead and thousands without power.
On the southern tip of the Korean peninsula, almost 5,000 households were without power this morning, including on the resort island of Jeju, which reported more than 473 millimetres of rain since Saturday.
Officials evacuated almost 1,000 people, while more than 300 flights across 10 airports, including Jeju International Airport, were cancelled.
Entries to national parks and some national train services have been suspended, the South Korean safety ministry added.
Haishen is expected to track near North Korea’s port city of Chongjin, in the far north of the country, late on Monday.
North Korea’s agriculture sector is particularly vulnerable to severe weather, and this summer’s storms and floods have raised concerns over the country’s tenuous food situation.
South Korean authorities have evacuated thousands in preparation for the typhoon.(AP: NASA)
On Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un toured coastal areas hit by Maysak and ordered party members to join the recovery effort.
ABC/wires