Typhoon Maemi crashed into South Korea's southern provinces before dawn, bringing record-breaking 215 kilometer (135 mile) per hour winds that triggered deadly landslides and floods.

Trains were derailed and ships pulverised by high winds as more than a million households were plunged into darkness. Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes as the high winds tore through the region.

"It was the most powerful typhoon in terms of wind speed since we began compiling weather records in 1904," said Yoon Seok-hwan, an official at the Korea Metrological Administration.

The casualty figure was expected to rise as communications were restored to remote regions. Unconfirmed reports put the death toll at 61.

As the typhoon howled into the southern port of Busan, strong gusts toppled several giant cranes weighing up to 985 tonnes. Five firefighters were injured in the city by a fallen construction crane, reports said.

A giant floating oil rig under construction in the southeastern port of Ulsan was swept away by high waves.

It strayed into the nearby Hyundai Mipo shipyard, smashing against a huge semi-built petrochemical carrier, a spokesman of Hyundai Mipo told AFP by phone. Both vessels suffered serious damage, he said.

"We may have to rebuild the petrochemical carrier. We need to consult with the owner," he said, adding that the ship was ordered by an unidentified German company.

Five nuclear power plants in southeastern counties of Kori and Wolseong had to halt operations after their power transmission lines were knocked out.

"The problem was with the power transmission system, not with the nuclear power generating system," Shin Bo-Kyun, a spokesman for the state utility's atomic power generating operations, told Yonhap news agency.

Television footage showed a row of seaside restaurants in Busan destroyed by typhoon-powered waves that breached the sea wall, wrecking cars, crumpling containers and scattering debris.

"There is nothing left here. My refrigerator is gone, TV set gone and even the heating boiler is missing," said Park Sun-Ja, the owner of one seaside fish restaurant.

A 50-year-old man died after he was blown off the terrace of his Busan house and smashed his head on the ground. Two others were electrocuted in separate incidents in Busan when power lines were snapped by gusting winds.

In Jeju, a sailor died after his leg was severed by a rope as he was trying to moor his barge.

An unconfirmed report said some 10 people were trapped in a flooded basement karaoke bar in the southeastern city of Masan with rescuers desperately pumping away flood water to reach them.

A train was derailed by a landslide in the central province of North Chungcheong early on Saturday, injuring 28.

Television pictures showed wreckages of crumpled giant cranes, overturned cars submerged in raging muddy waters, wrecked ships and damaged roads, bridges and railways.

Rising waters, landslides and power blackouts, forced some 2,000 people to evacuate in the eastern and southeastern provinces of Gangweon and Gyeongsang and the southern island of Jeju.

Some 1.34 million households in southern Gyeongsang Province suffered from power failure, the Central Anti-Disaster Headquarters said.

Typhoon Maemi, meaning cicada in Korean, swept through the east coast and off into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) early Saturday. It later weakened to a tropical storm, weather authorities said.

One person died and at least 93 people were injured Friday when the storm ripped through Japan's southern Okinawa islands.

TERRA.WIRE