Taiwan issued an alert today as powerful typhoon Sinlaku approached, bringing strong winds and heavy rain that could cause landslides, mudslides and flooding.
With maximum sustained winds of 90 mph and gusts of up to 112 mph, Sinlaku, whose name refers to a legendary goddess of Micronesia, is now off Japan's Okinawa island where a Philippine tug boat with five crew is missing.
The storm comes less than a week after deadly typhoon Rusa passed across Japan and the Korean peninsula, killing nearly 150 people in South Korea with dozens more missing.
Moving slowly westward at 11 km per hour from Japan, Sinlaku was about 350 miles east-northeast of the capital city of Taipei at 8.00 a.m., the bureau said. The storm has started to dump torrential rain on Taiwan, and flights to Okinawa were cancelled.
Fishing boats and "floating hotels" housing mainland Chinese fishermen working on Taiwanese boats took shelter in harbours.
Taipei bars Chinese fishermen from setting foot on the island but, following several fatal accidents, the "floating hotels" are now allowed to dock during a typhoon.