Context: Recently, the Typhoon Haishen made landfall over southern Japan.

About Typhoon Haishen

• It is categorised as a Category 4 storm which means well-built framed houses can suffer severe damage with loss of most of the roof structure and exterior walls.
• The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has referred to the tropical storm as “large” and “very strong”.
• Haishen was a name recommended by China and means “sea god” in Chinese.
• The JMA numbers typhoons in Japan and the first typhoon to occur after January 1st of the year is called typhoon number 1.

Additional Information

• The tropical cyclones that form over the Atlantic Ocean or the eastern Pacific Ocean are called hurricanes and the ones that form in the Northwest Pacific are called typhoons.
• The Tropical storms that form in the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea are called cyclones.

Typhoon Committee

• The inter-governmental organisation called the Typhoon Committee which has 14 members including Japan uses Asian names for typhoons that are contributed by the member countries.
• The Typhoon Committee comprised of Cambodia, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Macao, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States of America.