Typhoon Maemi swept through Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture on Thursday morning, injuring at least 70 people and disrupting air traffic.
The Meteorological Agency has said Maemi is one of the most powerful typhoons to hit the prefecture in 30 years, adding that its strength is comparable to the 1959 typhoon that killed and injured numerous people in the Miyako Island area.
Aside from the injuries, some caused by broken window glass, about 22,000 households, or 95 percent of the total, on Miyako and a group of islands in the vicinity were left without electricity, according to local authorities.