Typhoon Lionrock on course for a direct hit on northeastern Japan Tuesday Aug 30,2016

A strong typhoon was on course on Tuesday Aug 30,2016 for a direct hit on northeastern Japan, with authorities warning of heavy rain and high waves along the Pacific coast

Typhoon Lionrock was 170 kilometres east of the city of Choshi, as of 9 am (local time). Choshi lies straight east of Tokyo.

Packing wind gusts up to 180 kilometres per hour, the storm was moving north at 30 kilometres per hour and expected to make landfall in the northeast later in the day.

That would make it the first typhoon to directly land in the region from the Pacific Ocean since the country's present weather observation system was introduced in 1951, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency

Typhoon Lionrock is expected to cut across the country's main island of Honshu and head out to sea towards Russia and China, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Typhoons usually approach Japan from the south and southwest before moving northward across the archipelago.

Typhoon Lionrock, which formed more than 10 days ago, has become the longest-lasting typhoon of those that have developed north of the 30th parallel north, breaking a 46-year-old record, according to the private Weathernews agency.

The previous record-holding typhoon in that category was in 1970, which survived for nine days and six hours, Weathernews said on its website.