Powerful Typhoon Neoguri Battered Okinawa

Japan urges thousands to evacuate as a powerful typhoon hits Okinawa with torrential rain and high winds. Katie Sargent reports

Powerful Typhoon Neoguri battered Okinawa on Tuesday bringing heavy rain and strong winds, high waves up to 14 meters (46 feet) high and storm surges that were set to intensify as the storm passed the main island of Okinawa in the evening.

The Okinawa government reported four people were injured, while a man was reported missing from a fishing boat in rough seas off Kyushu.

Typhoon Neoguri is one of the strongest and biggest typhoons to hit during Japan’s summer months.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said that Typhoon Neoguri was packing sustained winds of 194 kilometers (120 miles) per hour and gusts up to 240 kph (148 mph).

Local airports were closed and about 550,000 people were advised to evacuate their homes.

Forecasts show the storm tracking toward Kyushu island and then across Japan’s main island of Honshu. 

A man walks across a street amid strong winds in Naha, Okinawa, southern Japan, Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Powerful Typhoon Neoguri pounded across the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa on Tuesday, as residents took refuge from destructive winds, towering waves and storm surges. Airports closed and residents were evacuated from low-lying areas and shorelines as the typhoon passed over Okinawa, packing sustained winds of 175 kilometers (108 miles) per hour and gusts up to 250 kph (154 mph), the Japan Meteorological Agency said. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, CREDIT MANDATORY

Women walk in strong winds caused by typhoon Neoguri at Kokusai street, a shopping and amusement district in Naha, on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa, in this photo taken by Kyodo July 8, 2014. REUTERS/Kyodo

A powerful typhoon struck the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa on Tuesday, as residents took refuge from gale force winds, towering waves and storm surges. (July 8)

Magnitude 6.9 Earthquake Hits Mexico, Guatemala

A damaged house is pictured in the San Marcos region, in the northwest of Guatemala, in this July 7, 2014 handout picture by Guatemala’s municipal fire department. A strong earthquake shook the Guatemalan border with Mexico on Monday, killing at least four people, damaging dozens of buildings and triggering landslides. The 6.9 magnitude quake struck near the frontier, and much of the damage was reported in the Guatemalan border region of San Marcos, where it downed power lines, opened cracks in buildings and triggered landslides which blocked roads. (REUTERS/Municipal fire department/Handout via Reuters)

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake on the Pacific Coast jolted a wide area of southern Mexico and Central America Monday, killing at least three people and damaging dozens of homes.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit at 6:23 a.m. (7:23 a.m. EDT; 11:23 GMT) on the Pacific Coast 1 mile (2 kilometers) north-northeast of Puerto Madero, near the Guatemala border. It initially calculated the magnitude at 7.1 but later lowered the figure to 6.9. (AP)

Please click the photos for larger images:

In this photo released by Bomberos Departamentales, or regional firefighters, firefighters check a home that collapsed during an earthquake in San Pedro, Guatemala, Monday, July 7, 2014. A magnitude-6.9 earthquake on the Pacific Coast jolted a wide area of southern Mexico and Central America Monday. (AP Photo/Bomberos Departamentales)

Residents clean up debris at a restaurant damaged by an earthquake in the town of Huixtla, Mexican state of Chiapas July 7, 2014. A strong earthquake shook the Guatemalan border with Mexico on Monday, killing at least four people, damaging dozens of buildings and triggering landslides. The 6.9 magnitude quake struck near the frontier, and much of the damage was reported in the Guatemalan border region of San Marcos, where it downed power lines, opened cracks in buildings and triggered landslides which blocked roads. (REUTERS/Juan Manuel Blanco)

A crack on the floor is seen after an earthquake in the town of Huixtla, Mexican state of Chiapas July 7, 2014. A strong earthquake shook the Guatemalan border with Mexico on Monday, killing at least four people, damaging dozens of buildings and triggering landslides. The 6.9 magnitude quake struck near the frontier, and much of the damage was reported in the Guatemalan border region of San Marcos, where it downed power lines, opened cracks in buildings and triggered landslides which blocked roads. (REUTERS/Juan Manuel Blanco)

Residents stand next a building damaged by an earthquake in the town of Huixtla, Mexican state of Chiapas July 7, 2014. A strong earthquake shook the Guatemalan border with Mexico on Monday, killing at least four people, damaging dozens of buildings and triggering landslides. The 6.9 magnitude quake struck near the frontier, and much of the damage was reported in the Guatemalan border region of San Marcos, where it downed power lines, opened cracks in buildings and triggered landslides which blocked roads. (REUTERS/Juan Manuel Blanco)

Municipal firefighters stand outside a damaged building in the San Marcos region, in the northwest of Guatemala, in this July 7, 2014 handout picture by Guatemala’s municipal fire department. A strong earthquake shook the Guatemalan border with Mexico on Monday, killing at least four people, damaging dozens of buildings and triggering landslides. The 6.9 magnitude quake struck near the frontier, and much of the damage was reported in the Guatemalan border region of San Marcos, where it downed power lines, opened cracks in buildings and triggered landslides which blocked roads. (REUTERS/Municipal fire department/Handout via Reuters)

Emergency workers on the scene of the earthquake damage in Guatemala. (BMunicipalesDeptales via Twitter @CBMDEPTAL)