Powerful Wind Gusts Cause Damage in Japan’s Ibaraki Pref. (UPDATE 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:38 JST, September 19, 2025 (updated at 13:30 JST)

Localized heavy rain and gusts hit Ibaraki Prefecture on Thursday afternoon, causing damage to structures across the prefecture. Although multiple buildings collapsed in Tsukuba, no injuries have been confirmed as of 7 p.m. Thursday, according to the prefecture and other sources.

According to the Mito Meteorological Office, a Hazardous Wind Watch was issued for the entire prefecture on Thursday, and wind gusts reached 18.7 meters per second in Tsukuba. From about 3 p.m., the city’s fire department received multiple reports such as “a tree along the street has fallen.” Over 20 cases of damage to houses and other structures caused by the gusts were confirmed.

In the city’s Azuma area, the wind collapsed scaffolding erected for the demolition of a central government employee housing complex. In Hanamuro of the city, the first floor of a two-story prefabricated warehouse and office crumpled. In Sakai in the prefecture, a large crane on factory grounds fell onto a prefectural road.

The 59-year-old president of an agricultural materials sales company that rented the collapsed warehouse and office building said, “If this had happened in the evening when our sales staff were returning, there might have been casualties.”

A total of approximately 20,000 households temporarily lost power in the cities across the prefecture including Tsuchiura, Hitachinaka and Ishioka. TEPCO Power Grid, Inc. is investigating and is considering lightning and heavy rain as possible causes.