Typhoon Usagi hits southern Japan

Usagi is the second major typhoon to hit Japan this season

Eighteen people were injured and thousands sought shelter as Typhoon Usagi struck Japan's southern island of Kyushu.

The typhoon made landfall late on Thursday, bringing winds of up to 180 km/h (110mph).

It cut power to thousands of homes and felled trees. Bullet trains from the main island, Honshu, were suspended.

Usagi is moving northwards, but it has weakened and meteorologists have now downgraded it to a tropical storm.

Television footage showed uprooted trees and flooded rivers. A number of flights were cancelled.

Among the injured was an 81-year-old woman in the southern prefecture of Kagoshima who was blown over and broke her thigh, a local official said.

A postman was injured after wind overturned his van, another official said. Two people were reportedly hurt in falls from roofs.

In the hardest-hit areas, families and the elderly took refuge in municipal shelters.

Usagi, which means rabbit in Japanese, is the second major storm to hit Japan this season.

In July, Typhoon Man-yi left three people dead when it struck Kyushu and neighbouring island Shikoku.