Dozens injured as Typhoon Ma-On lashes Japan

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TOKYO: Dozens of people were injured and more than 100 flights cancelled as strong Typhoon Ma-On lashed southern Japan Wednesday with torrential downpours and gale-force winds, meteorologists and reports said.

Packing gusts of up to 180 kilometres (112 miles) per hour, the storm made landfall over southwestern Shikoku late Tuesday, bringing up to 120 centimetres (48 inches) of rain since Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Ma-On -- named after a Hong Kong mountain -- was 40 kilometres west of Wakayama prefecture, some 450 kilometres from Tokyo, slowly moving east at the speed of 15 kilometres per hour Wednesday morning, it said.

At least one person was missing and 51 injured, while 130 domestic flights were cancelled, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The weather agency warned that the tsunami-hit northeast coastal area would see rainfall of up to 20 centimetres over a day to Thursday morning, urging the region to brace for possible landslides and floods. (AFP)