TAIPEI, Aug 8 (Reuters) - A light typhoon swept through northern Taiwan, killing one and leaving four missing as it headed out to China, Taiwan's government said on Saturday.

Typhoon Morakot, which had slowed down from medium-strength on Friday, continued to linger over Taiwan with winds gusts up to 119 kph (74 mph) on its way to mainland China, said the Central Weather Bureau.

Morakot, listed as a category 1 storm on a 1-5 scale by the Tropical Storm Risk forecsting service (www.tropicalstormrisk.com), had killed one person and left four missing and 10 injured in Taiwan, bureau and disaster officials said.

Morakot, the most severe this year so far in Taiwan, has forced flight cancellations and port closures after causing to deadly floods in the Philippines. [ID:nTP209388]

Typhoons regularly hit China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan in the second half of the year, gathering strength from the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean or South China Sea before weakening over land.

(Reporting by Faith Hung and Ralph Jennings; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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