Typhoon Melor strikes Japan

Typhoon Melor slammed the main Japanese island of Honshu Thursday morning with 75 mph winds. Two people were killed from flying debris.

Deaths as typhoon pounds Japan (Al Jazeera)

At least two people have been killed and dozens more injured in Japan, as a powerful typhoon swept its way up the main island of Honshu.

Typhoon Melor is the first such storm to make a direct hit on Japan in two years.

Packing gusts up to 200kmh, Melor made landfall before dawn on Thursday, tearing roofs off scores of buildings and forcing the cancellation of flights and train services.

According to Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency, more than 11,000 people have been taken to emergency shelters, while more than 40,000 homes were without electricity.

The two people confirmed killed were both struck by flying debris from trees felled or uprooted by the storm.

Slideshow of the storm:
In pictures: Typhoon hits Japan (BBC News)

The lingering risk from Melor is due to the potential for mudslides due to remaining rainand loose, waterlogged soil.

High landslide risk as typhoon batters Japan (The Age)

A POWERFUL typhoon has slammed into Japan's main island, leaving at least two people dead as violent winds damaged homes, uprooted trees and prompted fears of landslides.

Typhoon Melor, bringing gusts of up to 198 km/h, was cutting a swathe across densely populated central Japan - the first tropical storm to make landfall since 2007, the weather agency said. It brought heavy rain and strong winds that ripped roofs off houses, damaged walls and toppled trees, blocking roads and railways in central Japan.

The typhoon weakened slightly as it churned across the main island of Honshu, but ''is still very dangerous'', said Takeo Tanaka, a weather forecaster from the Meteorological Agency.

''The agency warned that extensive areas in Japan, including Tokyo and the western industrial hub of Osaka, were at high risk of landslides as the typhoon moved along the archipelago.