On November 7, 2006, a deadly tornado

Tornado

A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...

 struck the town of Saroma, Hokkaidō

Saroma, Hokkaido

is a town in the Tokoro District, Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.The name comes from the Ainu place name saro oma pet, meaning place of many miscanthus reeds.:...

 in northern Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The tornado destroyed ten buildings. Nine people are confirmed dead and 26 people injured (7 seriously) as of November 9, 2006 http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200611090156.html. Most of the casualties occurred at the work site for a tunnel, where the storm swept over prefabricated housing that was being used by workers. The Japan Meteorological Agency

Japan Meteorological Agency

The or JMA, is the Japanese government's weather service. Charged with gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Japan, it is a semi-autonomous part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport...

 says the tornado is the deadliest ever recorded in Japan.

The previous recent most deadly tornado occurred September 18, 2006, killing three people on the southern island of Kyūshū

Kyushu

is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....

. The agency's records only go back to 1961, however. The previous deadliest tornado struck Toyohashi City

Toyohashi, Aichi

is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.The city was founded on August 1, 1906. As of January 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 383,691 and a density of 1,468.62 persons per km². The total area is . By size, Toyohashi was Aichi Prefecture's second-largest city until March 31,...

, Aichi Prefecture

Aichi Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region. The region of Aichi is also known as the Tōkai region. The capital is Nagoya. It is the focus of the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area.- History :...

 in 1941, killing 12; and the deadliest killed 16 in Miyazaki

Miyazaki, Miyazaki

is the capital city of Miyazaki Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū in Japan. Located on the coast and perforated by several rivers, Miyazaki City enjoys scenic views of both ocean and nearby, verdant mountains...

, Miyazaki Prefecture

Miyazaki Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. The capital is the city of Miyazaki.- History :Historically, after the Meiji Restoration, Hyūga Province was renamed Miyazaki Prefecture....

 in 1881.

The November tornado also took out power to approximately 600 homes and destroyed 40 separate buildings. The meteorological agency estimates a wind speed for the tornado at more than F2 on the Fujita scale

Fujita scale

The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...

. The tornado was later confirmed as an F3.