Large waterspout makes landfall in Okinawa, damaging several buildings, Japan
Image credit: Ryuku Shimpo (stillshot)
A large waterspout made landfall on the island of Ie in Japan’s Okinawa on March 5, 2024, damaging several buildings.
The waterspout formed shortly after 11:00 LT in the waters between Motobu Peninsula and Ie Island.
According to local media, the glass at a hotel in Ie Village was broken, and a warehouse belonging to a nearby corporation was also damaged. No injuries or other casualties have been reported.
“I’ve seen several tornadoes before, but this is the first time I’ve seen one this big in my life,” a man in his 60s who witnessed the event said.
While Okinawa is Japan’s most tornado-prone area by size, such a large one is not common, meteorologist Sayaka Mori said.
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
Published in the last 24 hours
- In January 2000, chunks of ice weighing up to 6 pounds fell out of clear blue skies over Spain for 10 days. One smashed through a car windshield, and scientists still can’t fully explain where they came from Epicenter
- El Niño reaches 2.0°C on NOAA’s index, a tenth of a degree behind 1997–98 at the same point, as forecasters expect it to challenge the all-time record this winter
- The fastest wind gust ever measured on Earth, 253 mph, hit an oil island off Australia during Cyclone Olivia in 1996, and nobody noticed for more than a decade, until experts reading old data quietly took the record from New Hampshire's Mount Washington Epicenter
- In 1954, a grapefruit-sized meteorite crashed through a roof in Sylacauga, Alabama, and struck Ann Hodges as she napped on her couch Epicenter
After watching the video it convinced me that Asian waterspouts rotate to a strange disco beat.