TOKYO - Two people were missing in swollen rivers as Typhoon Chata'an churned toward Japan's Pacific coast Wednesday after leaving at least 70 dead in Micronesia and the Philippines.

Heavy rains continued to lash Japan's main island of Honshu with the eye of the typhoon expected to reach its Pacific coast between Tokyo and Nagoya before midnight (1500 GMT). The storm's centre was located at 260 kilometres (160 miles) south of the coastal area at noon (0300 GMT) as it moved at a speed of some 30 kilometres (19 miles) per hour. Total rainfall could top 60 centimetres (24 inches) in the Pacific coast region of Japan.

The force of Super Typhoon Chata'an was diminishing but it was still packing winds of up to 108 kilometres per hour (67 miles per hour). Last week it devastated atolls in the giant Chuuk lagoon in the Federated States of Micronesia, killing up to 40 people. The civil defence office in Manila said the death toll from the typhoon in the Philippines had risen to 30 with four people still missing and 41 injured.

In Japan, two middle-aged anglers were washed away Wednesday after they were stranded on an islet in a river in Gifu, some 250 kilometers (160 miles) west of Tokyo. One of them was rescued later, but the other was still missing the National Police Agency said. The typhoon has so far grounded six flights and delayed four international flights while forcing the cancellation of 43 bullet-train runs along the Pacific coast.