TOKYO (Reuters) - More than 100 flights were cancelled and evacuation warnings were issued for thousands of people as a powerful typhoon approached Japan's northeast on Tuesday, a region devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami five years ago.

Typhoon Lionrock was expected to make landfall in the northeast Tohoku region later on Tuesday, with sustained winds of 120 km per hour (75 mph) and gusts up to 176 kph (109 mph) as it moved north from the Pacific Ocean, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.