212.9 mph wind gusts: Typhoon Koinu breaks records in Taiwan

Taiwan has provisionally recorded the strongest wind gust ever recorded in Asia, and the third strongest in the world, as Typhoon Koinu made impact overnight.

More than 300 people have been injured as Koinu brushed by the southern tip of Taiwan in the early hours, with one casualty reported.

A wind gust recorded at 212.9 mph on Taiwan's Orchid Island has provisionally become the strongest ever recorded in the country since records started, and the third strongest in the world.

The gust was so powerful it destroyed the island's anemometer as it passed.

Only speeds of 231 mph on Mount Washington, N.H., and 253 mph on Australia's Barrow Island stand above last night's gusts internationally. While still offshore, the system saw sustained wind speeds of 130 mph, equivalent to a category 4 hurricane.

More than 60,000 properties lost power in the conditions, predominantly across Taiwan's western coast.

Heavy rainfall from the system fell mostly in mountainous regions, sparing more densely populated zones, although many cities in the south and east saw businesses and schools close ahead of Koinu's arrival.

Koinu has now moved to the west of Taiwan, with western regions still seeing strong winds and rainfall.

It will continue moving west before likely making landfall in China in the early hours of Saturday.