Typhoon lashes Japanese islands with rain, waves

The second powerful typhoon to slam Japan in a week damaged buildings and caused blackouts in nearly half a million homes on Monday.

Regional officials in Miyazaki, Japan, said rescue workers were looking for four people missing after a mudslide hit the mountainous village of Shiiba earlier Monday.

A fifth person who was rescued at the site was seriously injured. NHK public television, citing its own tally, reported 37 injuries in the Kyushu region.

By Monday morning, Haishen, which means "sea god" in Chinese, was near the southeastern coast of South Korea packing sustained winds of up to 144 kph (89 mph).

The storm slammed Kumamoto and other islands over the weekend with heavy rain, rough waves and high tides.

Haishen is the second typhoon in less than two weeks to take a similar path through southern Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Typhoon Maysak last week injured dozens of people and damaged homes and other buildings.

A livestock cargo ship capsized and sank off Japan's coast during stormy weather as Maysak passed. Two of its 43 crew members were rescued and one body was recovered before the search was halted because of Haishen. The ship was transporting 5,800 cows from New Zealand to China.