Typhoon Dolphin batters Okinawa before bearing down on China

Typhoon Dolphin has struck Japan's Okinawa prefecture, injuring at least six people, before moving west toward China. The BBC and the Independent both report the storm's impact on the island chain.

Okinawa sits at the convergence of several Pacific weather systems and has weathered typhoons for as long as records exist. The prefecture's position - closer to Taiwan than to Tokyo - makes it a regular first landfall for storms tracking west. The island's infrastructure is built to withstand such events; the question is always the intensity, not the occurrence.

The storm is now bearing down on China's eastern seaboard. Typhoons weaken over land and strengthen over warm water; the East China Sea will determine what arrives. The naming convention rotates through a list maintained by the World Meteorological Organization - 'Dolphin' is Japanese in origin, part of a shared regional roster.

The next forty-eight hours will show whether the storm maintains strength or dissipates before reaching the mainland. Either way, Okinawa will repair, as it has done every season.