TOKYO, 29th August, 2024 (WAM) -- Typhoon Shanshan made landfall on Japan's southwestern main island of Kyushu on Thursday, the weather agency said, bringing heavy rain and strong winds that left at least 40 people injured in three prefectures.
The Japan Meteorological Agency urged residents in affected areas to remain on high alert for natural disasters, while public transport operators canceled trains and flights, and some homes were left without power as the storm advanced.
According to Kyodo News, a rare special typhoon warning issued for most parts of Kagoshima Prefecture was downgraded at 10:30 am after the typhoon made landfall.
Disruption to transportation services spread, with Central Japan Railway saying Thursday it will halt Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train services between Mishima and Nagoya in central Japan, from Friday morning. The line links Tokyo to Osaka in western Japan.
Kyushu Railway, which already suspended part of its shinkansen bullet train operations Wednesday night, said its stoppage would include all high-speed and other train services on the island by Thursday afternoon, while Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways canceled many flights to and from airports in the region.
Some bullet trains will also be canceled Thursday evening on the section from Hakata in northern Kyushu to Hiroshima in western Japan, JR West said.
The typhoon made landfall near Satsumasendai in Kagoshima around 8 am.
At noon, it was located near the city of Amakusa in Kumamoto Prefecture and was moving northward at 15 kilometers per hour with winds of up to 180 kph, the agency said. It had an atmospheric pressure of 970 hectopascals at its center.
As of Thursday, 40 people had sustained injuries due to the typhoon, according to the prefectural governments of Kagoshima, Kumamoto and Miyazaki.
A man in his 60s was missing after falling overboard Wednesday night in Kagoshima, according to the Japan Coast Guard.
Around 254,000 residences in the Kyushu region's seven prefectures were without power as of 10 am Thursday, Kyushu Electric Power Co. said, adding the number could rise. Some landlines in Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures were also disrupted, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corp. said.
In central Japan's Aichi Prefecture, the city office of Gamagori confirmed that three people died and two others were injured when a landslide hit their house after heavy rain brought by the typhoon.