Posted in China Hong Kong News Philippines Taiwan UK News Weather World

Super typhoon Ragasa forces 400,000 to evacuate their homes

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As many as 400,000 people are being evacuated from parts of China over a powerful typhoon that has slammed into the Philippines and Taiwan.

Schools and businesses have shut down, most flights have been grounded, and supermarket shelves are being emptied amid Super Typhoon Ragasa, which has already recorded wind speeds of about 137 mph.

Tens of millions of residents could be impacted as Ragasa is set to pass south of the major cities of Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, before making landfall again in the mainland Guangdong Province.

Entire megacities have been brought to a standstill as authorities issued dual red alerts for storm surges and high waves, warning that Guangdong will be hit by waves as high as 23 feet.

A rappel rescue in flood-hit municipality of Salcedo
Coastguard personnel conducting a rappel rescue in flood-hit municipality of Salcedo, Ilocos Sur province, Philippines (Picture: EPA)

Guangzhou – a city of 18.6 million people – may issue its highest red alert today.

And in Shenzhen – home to another 17.5 million – officials are preparing to relocate almost half a million residents from low-lying and coastal areas.

The National Meteorological Center said Ragasa would make landfall in the coastal area between Zhuhai and Zhanjiang cities between midday and evening on Wednesday.

What is the aftermath in the Philippines and Taiwan?

A handout photo taken on September 22, 2025 and received through the courtesy of Facebook page of Tuba Public Information Office on September 23, shows rescuers carrying an injured commuter on a stretcher after a landslide hit vehicles traversing a road at the height of Super Typhoon Ragasa in Tuba town, Benguet province, north of Manila. Ragasa had already toppled trees, tore the roofs off buildings and killed at least one person in a landslide while lashing the northern Philippines, where thousands sought shelter in schools and evacuation centres. (Photo by John Dimain / TUBA PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE / AFP) / -----EDITORS NOTE --- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / TUBA PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by JOHN DIMAIN/TUBA PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE/AFP via Getty Images)
Rescuers carrying an injured commuter on a stretcher after a landslide hit vehicles in Tuba town, Benguet province, north of Manila (Picture: AFP)

In the Philippines, at least three people have died and five others are still missing after Ragasa made landfall on Monday.

More than 17,500 people have since been displaced amid flooding and landslides set off by the most powerful storm to hit the Southeast Asian archipelago this year.

One of the victims is a 74-year-old man, who died while being brought to a hospital.

He had been pinned in one of four vehicles that were partly buried by mud, rocks and trees that cascaded down a mountainside onto a road in the mountain town of Tuba in Benguet province, officials said.

International Space Station flies over the eye of Typhoon Ragasa, September 22, 2025, in this still image obtained from social media video. NASA via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.
International Space Station flies over the eye of Typhoon Ragasa (Picture: Reuters)

Two other villagers died in the storm, including a resident in Calayan town.

Ragasa prompted the Philippine government on Monday to close schools and government offices in the densely populated capital region and 29 northern provinces.

Fishing boats and ferries were prohibited from venturing into very rough seas and domestic flights were cancelled.

In Taiwan, at least six people were injured and more than 7,000 residents were evacuated as the typhoon swept south of the island.

DONGGUAN, CHINA - SEPTEMBER 22: Almost-empty shelves are seen as residents stock up on supplies at a supermarket to brace for super typhoon Ragasa on September 22, 2025 in Dongguan, Guangdong Province of China. Ragasa, the 18th named storm of the 2025 Pacific typhoon season, intensified into a super typhoon on September 21, and is forecast to likely make landfall along the central or western coastal areas of Guangdong Province on September 24. (Photo by Zhou Nan/VCG via Getty Images)
Almost-empty shelves are seen as residents stock up on supplies in Dongguan, Guangdong Province of China (Picture: Getty)

What is a super typhoon?

The term ‘super typhoon’ is used for the most intense type of typhoon, characterised by its extremely high sustained wind speeds, typically exceeding 150 mph.

A hurricane is the same weather phenomenon, but is given that name when it forms over different geographic regions, specifically the North Atlantic and the Northeast and Central Pacific oceans.

A super typhoon is the equivalent of a strong category 4 or category 5 hurricane.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Posted in Canada Chile China Costa Rica Earthquakes Ecuador Hawaii Japan New Zealand News Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre Peru Russia Samoa Taiwan UK News US news World

How 8.8-magnitude earthquake and tsunamis are causing major flight disruption worldwide

A notice saying a part of Shinkansen bullet train service is temporarily suspended
A notice saying a part of Shinkansen bullet train service is temporarily suspended due to a tsunami warning in Tokyo, Japan (Picture: Japan)

Multiple travel alerts have been issued to British citizens after Russia’s Far East was rattled by an 8.8-magnitude earthquake, resulting in tsunami waves as high as 13 feet.

Travellers in a dozen countries – the US, Canada, Philippines, Taiwan, China, Tonga, Togo, New Zealand, Ecuador, Solomon Islands, Peru, Samoa, Japan, Kiribati, Costa Rica, French Polynesia and Chile – have been urged to follow ‘local advice’ as evacuations are ongoing.

Follow the latest updates on the earthquake on Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula with Metro’s live blog

In Japan alone, nearly two million people have been rushed to safety from coastal areas in the north, with the meteorological agency confirming that sections of the east coast of Hokkaido and main island Honshu had seen waves of up to one metre in height.

Part of Shinkansen bullet train service has also been temporarily axed dueto the warnings.

What is the UK Foreign Office advice?

The UK Foreign Office said: ‘An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.7 has struck the eastern coast of Russia in the Kamchatka Peninsula region. A tsunami threat message has been issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.

‘If you are in the affected areas potentially affected by the earthquake or tsunami you should follow the advice of the local authorities.’

But the FCDO has stopped short of actually warning against travel to any of the affected regions following the earthquake – apart from Russia, but the country has been on Britain’s ‘no-go’ list since the early days of the war in Ukraine.

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The advice was released in the early hours of the mornings, and so far the government has not updated it.

So no areas in Japan, the US or Hawaii, for example, were deemed ‘unsafe’ because of the tsunami – but people have still been urged not to travel.

Are there any disruptions to flights?

In the hours after the earthquake – and the multiple tremors that followed – hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from coastal areas, with some of them trying to make a run for airports.

METRO GRAPHICS Tsunami Warning Map 3007
An updated map showing the latest tsunami warnings and alerts (Picture: Metro)

While some tsunami warnings have been downgraded and alerts dropped, as many as hundreds of flights have been cancelled.

Guangzhou Baiyun, Shanghai Pudong and Shenzhen Bao’an International Airports in China, Sendai Airport in Japan,Sultan Hasanuddin Airport in Indonesia and the Las Vegas Airport in the US have all been graded five – the maximum in FlightRadar’s disruption index, indicating major problems.

Pictures showed dozens of travellers waiting for updates after their flights were cancelled.

All flights out of Maui Airport were also stopped for the night, with more than 200 people left sheltering at the departure lounge.

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Is the ‘worst’ over?

So far, the impact of the tsunami has not been as destructive as expected.

Chip McCreery, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Director, stressed the ‘worst part of it’ is over.

Yet, South American nations like Chile and Colombia are bracing for the threat.

Ecuadorian Navy personnel receive tourists who were aboard boats and were evacuated due to a tsunami warning in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos, Ecuador, on July 30, 2025. Ecuador ordered on Tuesday the preventive evacuation of beaches, docks, and low-lying areas in the tourist Galapagos Islands, 1,000 km from the mainland, due to a tsunami warning following the 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the east coast of Russia, the Risk Secretariat reported. (Photo by Carlos Villalba / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS VILLALBA/AFP via Getty Images)
Ecuadorian Navy personnel receive tourists who were aboard boats and were evacuated due to a tsunami warning in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos (Picture: AFP)

Chile has upgraded its tsunami warning to the highest level, covering most of its lengthy Pacific coast.

The country’s national emergency service said it was evacuating hundreds of people and school was cancelled along much of the coast.

Similarly, Colombia has issued tsunami alerts and warnings for the areas of Choco and Narino, and for Cauca and Valle del Cauca respectively.

The country’s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management said: ‘Preemptive evacuation of beaches and low-tide areas on the coasts of Narino and Choco is recommended. 

‘Go to high ground and away from the coast.’

Meanwhile, the Washington branch of the US National Weather Service said coastal areas west of Seattle were still seeing severe waves.

It asked people not to travel to the shores to watch the waves, and instead ‘keep away.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Posted in California Canada China Earthquakes Ecuador Hawaii Japan Mexico News Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre Peru Philippines Russia Taiwan Tonga UK News World

Map shows where tsunami warnings are in place after 8.8-magnitude earthquake

A map shows where the warning and other alerts for tsunami are in the Pacific (Picture: Metro)

A map shows the epicentre of one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded, along with large parts of the Pacific Ocean now under tsunami w…

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Posted in China News Taiwan UK News World

Frightening new TV series shows what China’s invasion of Taiwan could look like

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A TV show centring around a Chinese invasion is hitting a little too close to home in Taiwan.

On the surface, ‘Zero Day Attack’ could be just another Hollywood thriller – air-raid sirens blasting, explosions ripping through buildings and swarms of military jets deployed – but this is a scenario people are actually preparing for.

Taiwan, a self-governed democracy of 23.3 million people, has lived under the shadow of China’s threat for many years.

The Communist Party claims the country as part of its own territory and its imperialistic rhetoric has only grown more aggressive in the last decade.

The government has previously declared it is ‘ready to fight at all times’ as it concluded a military drill in the Taiwanese waters in 2023.

This is why the 17-minute trailer has raised further alarm in Taiwan. Even the name, ‘Zero Day Attack’, refers to exploiting an unknown vulnerability, meaning that the target has no time to prepare or defend against it.

Set to premier on Saturday, the show starts with a Chinese war plane going missing near Taiwan.

China then sends swarms of military boats and jets for a blockade as the island goes on a war footing. Panic ensues on the streets of the capital, Taipei.

Zero Day AttackTaiwanese TV drama shows what a Chinese invasion could look like
A screengrab from ‘Zero Day Attack’ shows a simulated Chinese invasion

After watching the first episode in the Taipei premier last week, Blair Yeh, a 35-year-old engineer, said: ‘Presenting such a situation (of conflict) can lead to more discussion about what we should do if it really turns into reality one day.’

A war with China has long been a too sensitive of a topic for the nation.

For example, this has resulted in more than half of the show’s crew asking to remain anonymous on the crew list, and some people including a director pulling out of the production at the last minute, showrunner Cheng Hsin Mei said.

‘Zero Day Attack’ is being released as China has stepped up its military preparedness – including at least six rounds of major war games in the past five years and daily military activities close to the island.

This threat is felt in Europe as well.

Zero Day Attack Taiwanese TV drama shows what a Chinese invasion could look like
China claims Taiwan as part of its own territory

Only yesterday UK defence secretary John Healey confirmed that Britain is ready to fight in the Pacific if a conflict breaks out over Taiwan.

Speaking on board the HMS Prince of Wales, alongside Richard Marles, the Australian deputy prime minister, he told The Telegraph: ‘If we have to fight, as we have done in the past, Australia and the UK are nations that will fight together.

‘We exercise together and by exercising together and being more ready to fight, we deter better together.’

But Healey later admitted that he was speaking in ‘general terms’, and said the UK would prefer to see any disputes in the Indo-Pacific resolved ‘peacefully’ and ‘diplomatically’.

China vs Taiwan: Which has a stronger military force?

It does not take long to determine whether China or Taiwan overpowers the other with its military.

China possesses one of the world’s largest forces, ranking third behind the US and Russia in 2025.

Boasting a rapidly modernising force and the second-largest defence budget, it is a clear threat to most countries – and Taiwan in particular, which ranks 22nd overall.

Taiwan’s only advantage is its geography. As an island, the nation could prove a significant military challenge to invade.

Water provides a natural barrier, making it harder for an enemy to land troops and supplies.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Posted in China News Soviet Union Taiwan UK News World

China’s new secret weapon is a flying ship dubbed ‘the sea monster’

Ekranoplan – a cross between a ship and an airplane – sits unfinished in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Or even a ship? No – it is something much more sinister.

Roaring just feet above the sea, a sp…

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