TOKYO: Typhoon Lan made landfall near the southern end of the Kii Peninsula in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, around 5 a.m. Tuesday.

The seventh typhoon of the year caused strong winds in the Kinki, Chugoku and Shikoku western regions and the Tokai central region, as well as heavy rains in many parts of Japan.

The typhoon is forecast to travel north and cross the Kinki region to reach the Sea of Japan on Tuesday night.

The Japan Meteorological Agency asked the public to stay on full alert for not only storms, high waves and high tides but also landslides, flooding of low-lying areas and overflowing of rivers.

In the city of Wakayama, a 60-year-old man was buried under the outer wall of a building and fell unconscious due to a subarachnoid hemorrhage.

The agency said that the city of Tottori and the towns of Yazu and Misasa, all in Tottori Prefecture, and the town of Kamikitayama, Nara Prefecture, had or believed to have had exceptionally large rainfall of 90 to 100 millimeters per hour Tuesday morning.

In the town of Odai, Mie Prefecture, rainfall reached 589.5 millimeters over the 24 hours to 12:20 p.m. In Owase, also in Mie, a maximum instantaneous wind speed of 37.9 meters per second was recorded shortly after 2:15 a.m.

Landslide warnings were issued for parts of Gifu, Nara, Shiga, Kyoto, Hyogo, Tottori, Okayama and Tokushima prefectures. Evacuation orders were kept in place in many municipalities including Shingu of Wakayama Prefecture and the city of Tottori.

At noon Tuesday, the typhoon was traveling northwest near the Hyogo city of Awaji at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour. Its central atmospheric pressure was 985 hectopascals, while the maximum wind speed was 30 meters per second and the maximum instantaneous wind speed 40 meters per second.

The typhoon led to the cancellation of many trains and passenger flights.

As announced in advance, Central Japan Railway Co. and West Japan Railway Co. stopped the entire Shinkansen services between Nagoya and Oakayama stations for Tuesday.

Japan Airlines canceled 253 flights, mainly domestic flights to and from Osaka International Airport. All Nippon Airways canceled 313 flights.

JIJI Press