Japanese weather officials have warned of violent winds accompanying severe Tropical Storm Bebinca as it nears southwestern Japan Saturday night. The storm is close to the Amami region of Kagoshima Prefecture.

The Japan Meteorological Agency estimates Bebinca was moving northwest at 8 p.m. on Saturday. It was traveling at 30 kilometers per hour over waters southwest of Amami City.

The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 108 kilometers per hour near its center, with peak gusts of 144 kilometers per hour. Its central atmospheric pressure was 980 hectopascals. It is now expected to move northwest.

Waves could reach as high as 8 meters in Amami, 7 meters around southern Kyushu and 6 meters in Okinawa.

Officials are calling on people in the Amami region to be on the alert for high waves, landslides, flooding in low-lying areas and swollen rivers. Caution should be exercised against high waves in the Okinawa region.