Steadily strengthening as it did so, Tropical Storm Cora attained typhoon intensity by 00:00 UTC on 1 September.

In the same period, between 00:00 UTC on 1–2 September, Typhoon Cora increased its maximum sustained wind speed from 85 to 145 mph (137 to 233 km/h).

[4] Having intensified significantly, Typhoon Cora progressively decreased its forward speed and bent back to the west-northwest over the next 36 hours.

During this pass, the central pressure in Typhoon Cora dropped to 918 mb (27.1 inHg), the lowest observed in its life span.

[3] However, Typhoon Cora did not reach its maximum wind speed of 175 mph (282 km/h) for another 12 hours, until 12:00 UTC on 5 September.

[4] After peaking at this intensity, Typhoon Cora continued moving west-northwest toward mainland China; around midnight UTC on 6 September, its eye passed 20 mi (32 km) southwest of the Senkaku Islands.

On 8 September, the remnant low turned to the northeast, over the East China Sea, and approached the Korean Peninsula.

The Marines were due to arrive on Okinawa, their staging area, but instead were sent to a camp in Da Nang, part of South Vietnamese territory in 1966.

The lowest pressure on Miyako-jima island, 928.9 mb (27.43 inHg), was recorded at 10:01 a.m. local time on 5 September.

On nearby Ishigaki Island, where wind gusts reached 162 km/h (101 mph), 71 homes were destroyed while a further 139 were severely damaged.

On nearby Taiwan (then called Formosa), Typhoon Cora produced strong winds along the north coast of the island.

Striking Fujian Province, China, on the heels of Typhoon Alice, Cora exacerbated damage in the region.