(CNN)Lekima strengthened into a super typhoon Thursday with winds of 240 kph (150 mph) as it bore down on a Japanese island chain.
The worst conditions have been felt in the southern Ryukyu Islands of Japan over the past few hours with the eye of the storm passing very close to Miyakojima, a city of about 54,000 people. The storm’s powerful winds are continuing to lash the region.
The Ryukyu Islands stretch north of Taiwan to the Japanese island of Kyushu. The chain of islands includes Okinawa, with a population of 1.4 million people.
