Typhoon Dolphin hits Japan's Okinawa, injures 6; China shuts ports ahead of landfall

Published Aug 8, 10:23 AM UTC

Typhoon Dolphin struck Japan's southern Okinawa prefecture on August 8, 2026, injuring six people and cutting power to over 50,000 buildings. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 162 kph (89.5 mph) with gusts up to 216 kph. Nearly 39,000 buildings lost power in Kagoshima and over 12,000 in Okinawa. Domestic airlines ANA and Japan Airlines canceled flights to and from Okinawa. In China, authorities designated Dolphin as an orange-category typhoon (second-highest level) and raised the emergency response to level III. China shut ports, suspended 162 passenger ferry routes in Zhejiang, and halted operations at Ningbo Lishe International Airport. The typhoon is expected to make landfall between Zhoushan city in Zhejiang and Fuding city in Fujian between late Sunday and early Monday. In Taiwan, 78 international flights were canceled due to the typhoon. China also ordered ships in the Taiwan Strait to follow its traffic control instructions, a move denounced by Taipei.