1 dead, 5 injured as typhoon, quake, twister hammer Japan

TOKYO — A heavy downpour and strong winds pounded Tokyo and surrounding areas Saturday as a typhoon forecast to be Japan’s worst in six decades made landfall and passed over the capital, where streets, nearby beaches and train stations were deserted.

Store shelves were bare after people stocked up on water and food ahead of Typhoon Hagibis.

The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of dangerously heavy rainfall in Tokyo and surrounding prefectures, including Gunma, Saitama and Kanagawa, and later expanded the area to include Fukushima and Miyagi to the north.

A coastal earthquake also rattled the area.

“Be ready for rainfall of the kind that you have never experienced,” said meteorological agency official Yasushi Kajihara, adding that areas usually safe from disasters may prove vulnerable. “Take all measures necessary to save your life,” he said.

Hagibis, which means “speed” in Filipino, was advancing north-northwestward with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, according to the meteorological agency. It was traveling northward at a speed of 25 mph. It reached Kawasaki, a western part of greater Tokyo, late Saturday.

The storm brought heavy rainfall in wide areas of Japan all day ahead of its landfall.

At least one man was killed after a tornado ripped through Chiba prefecture earlier Saturday, overturning a car in the city of Ichihara, city official Tatsuya Sakamaki said. Five people were injured when the tornado ripped through a house.