A powerful typhoon has wrecked houses, caused towering tidal surges and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee to emergency shelters as it barreled across the northern Philippines in the sixth major storm to pound the Southeast Asian country in less than a month.

A super typhoon barreled toward the Philippines’ largest island on Sunday, as more than half a million people sought shelter from the latest in a string of powerful storms to threaten the country.

A super typhoon has made second landfall on the Philippines' main island of Luzon, with forecasters warning of "life-threatening storm surge", heavy rains and severe winds.