Typhoon Khanun moves northward toward Japan's Kyushu island

TOKYO, Aug. 8 Kyodo - Typhoon Khanun moved slowly northward toward Japan's southwestern Kyushu on Tuesday, bringing parts of the island into a storm zone and prompting a railway operator to suspend some of its shinkansen bullet train service on there.

The weather agency warned of mudslides, overflowing rivers and high waves as linear rainbands known to bring heavy downpours could develop in southern and northern Kyushu, which is one of Japan's four main islands, and around Amami-Oshima Island, located between Kyushu and Okinawa, through Wednesday night.

The Japan Meteorological Agency also said Tuesday that Typhoon Lan, the year's seventh, has formed and could approach the country's main island of Honshu next week.

Typhoon Khanun is expected to continue advancing northward over the sea in the west of Kyushu through Thursday.

Kyushu Railway Co. said that due to approach of the typhoon, it has halted its shinkansen services between Kumamoto and Kagoshima-Chuo stations from Tuesday afternoon.

At 5 p.m., Typhoon Khanun was located around 80 kilometers south of Yakushima Island, off of southern Kyushu, with an atmospheric pressure of 970 hectopascals at its center and packing winds of up to 144 km per hour, according to the weather agency.

At 3 p.m., Typhoon Lan was located near Minamitori Island, roughly 1,800 km southeast of Tokyo in the Pacific, with an atmospheric pressure of 998 hectopascals at its center and winds of up to 90 kph, the agency said.

==Kyodo