TOKYO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) — Typhoon Chaba has caused advisories for more than 30,000 people on the island of Tsushima in Nagasaki Prefecture to evacuate their homes as it sweeps through the area causing wave surges, powerful gusts and torrential rain, local media said Wednesday.

Public schools in Nagasaki Prefecture have also been shuttered, as the powerful storm charts a northeasterly direction over waters off Kyushu in Japan's southwest, the weather agency said.

Japan's Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the typhoon, the 18th of the season, was travelling at a speed of about 30 km per hour and was packing winds of more than 140 km per hour near its center.

The JMA said Typhoon Chaba will likely sideswipe the Kyushu region on Wednesday and both air and sea transportation has been severely disrupted, with 80 local flights to and from the region grounded.

On its earlier path north-northwestwards to Kyushu from Okinawa Island, 200 flights were canceled in the region, including to and from Okinawa's capital of Naha, with some of them being operated by Japan's flagship carriers Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airlines.

The local government previously issued evacuation advisories in Naha, Urasoe and Kumejima, but these were lifted as the storm moved north, although extensive damaged was left in the typhoon's wake, particularly to buildings on Kume Island.

Schools and offices were also closed in the region.

Local officials said that no one had been injured as a result of the typhoon, but the weather agency has warned of strong waves along the coast of the Sea of Japan, powerful gusts and torrential rainfall through Thursday in some coastal regions in western Japan.