East China's Fujian Province is on alert as the 13th typhoon this year, Soudelor, is expected to make landfall in the province on Saturday.
The province has activated a typhoon emergency response, requiring all fishing boats to return to harbor by 10 a.m. Friday and all people working in coastal fisheries to be evacuated before 7 p.m. Thursday.
The center of Soudelor was located at around 920 kilometers southeast of Hualien, Taiwan at 11 a.m. (Beijing time) Thursday, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.
The NMC forecast that Soudelor will move northwestward at a speed of 20 to 25 km per hour with strengthening force and land on the eastern coast of Taiwan between Friday night and Saturday morning.
After crossing Taiwan, the strong typhoon will continue to move northwestward and hit the coast of Fujian Province, the center said.
From Thursday to Friday, Soudelor will bring gales and storms to some parts of Taiwan and waters nearby. The wind and rain will also take away the heat in some southern parts of China starting Friday, the NMC said.
China's national observatory on Thursday has issued a yellow alert for Soudelor.
China has a four-tier warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
