Okinawa joins Taiwan in bracing for Typhoon Soulik

Been following this one since it was a tropical depression. Glad to see it's weakened, and I hope it does so even more before hitting Taiwan. I also hope it stops veering, however slightly, North-East.

If its not quakes its typhoons.Ah, the price of living in such a beautiful part of these world.

Well at least the main island of Okinawa didn't get hit. Seems like the proverbial Taiwan-magnet for typhoons is up and running this year. I pray that they stay safe!

Hmmm, could be "surf's up" here in Kagoshima!

This is an article out of Taipei so it's naturally concerned mostly with the effect on Taiwan. What the article does not mention is that, as I write, this storm ("No. 7" in Japan's quaint naming system) is less than 100 km SSE of the Japanese islands of Ishigaki and Iriomote so they are already well within the grip of the storm.

While these islands do not have large cities, they are not exactly deserted islands, either. I'm surprised JT couldn't find an article about the storm in the Japan press.

See video of the storm's effect on Ishigaki this afternoon on The Okinawa Times website:

http://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/category/台風/1/

Within about 2.5 hours (11 PM), the eye will pass within 25 km south of Iriomote and by around 2 AM will be passing directly over Yonaguni island.

Here's a nice animated map of the storm's track:

http://agora.ex.nii.ac.jp/digital-typhoon/forecast/google-maps/