Japan was bracing on Friday for its strongest storm this year, a super typhoon powering north towards the Okinawa island chain that threatens to rake a wide swathe of the nation with strong winds and torrential rain.
Typhoon Vongfong, which at one point rivalled last year's devastating Haiyan in strength, was weakening slightly as it moved across the open ocean, but still packed winds gusting as high as 259 kph (160 mph).
"There is no question that it is an extremely large, extremely powerful typhoon," said an official at Japan's Meteorological Agency (JMA).
"It's the strongest storm we've had this year, definitely, although it has lost some strength from its peak."
The storm, which will be Japan's second typhoon in a week, was south of Okinawa, and moving north at 15 kph (9 mph) with sustained winds of 185 kph (114 mph) as of Friday afternoon, the agency said.
The typhoon is moving extremely slowly, which raises the danger of landslides and flooding.
It was likely to be closest to Okinawa, an island chain 1,600 km (1,000 miles) southwest of Tokyo, and the home of the largest contingent of US troops in Japan, late on Saturday or early on Sunday.
