Tsunami alerts in Japan, Philippines as Typhoon Fung-Wong nears

(WAM) — Authorities in Japan issued a tsunami warning for Iwate Prefecture in the north of the country today, while the Philippines announced the evacuation of nearly one million people from high-risk areas as powerful Typhoon Fung-Wong swept across the main island of Luzon.

Officials in both countries urged residents to keep away from coastal zones. Japan’s public broadcaster reported that a tsunami wave was detected 70 kilometres off the coast of Iwate at 17:12 local time (08:12 GMT) and was expected to reach the Pacific-facing shoreline shortly, with an estimated height of around one metre.

The United States tsunami warning system indicated that a 6.26-magnitude earthquake struck earlier in the day off the east coast of Honshu, Japan’s largest island, which includes Iwate Prefecture.

In the Philippines, more than 900,000 people were evacuated from vulnerable locations as Fung-Wong, known locally as Owan, battered large parts of Luzon. Work and classes were suspended in many areas, including Metro Manila. The typhoon was forecast to make landfall in Aurora province in central Luzon this evening, only days after Typhoon Kalmaegi left 224 dead in the Philippines and five in Viet Nam, causing extensive coastal damage.

Fung-Wong has brought heavy rain and sustained winds of up to 185 kilometres per hour, with gusts reaching 230 kilometres per hour. Level-five warnings, the highest alert, were issued in parts of the southeast and central Philippines, including Catanduanes, Camarines Sur and Aurora, while a level-three alert was posted for Metro Manila and neighbouring provinces.

Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro urged people in the storm’s path to heed evacuation orders, warning that refusal is dangerous and unlawful. The military reassigned about 2,000 personnel from field training to humanitarian assistance and disaster-response operations.

The Civil Aviation Authority said around 400 domestic and international flights had been cancelled.