Tropical Storm Malakas Churns Toward Japanese Islands

Tropical Storm Malakas maintained strength as it churned over the Pacific Ocean toward the Japanese islands of Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima, the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center said on its website.

The official forecast shows the storm tracking north over Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima before turning north-northeast, indicating it won’t make landfall on Japan’s main islands. The storm’s eye is forecast to remain about 570 kilometers (350 miles) off Japan’s coast, with Tokyo and surrounding prefectures no longer in range of the forecast path’s margin of error.