Super Typhoon Maysak is on track to enter the East Sea on April 5, according to the Central Meteorology Hydrology Forecast Centre.

The centre said the eye of storm on April 3 was about 1,000km east of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines.

The National Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention has issued an alert for millions along the coastline from Quang Ninh to Quang Ngai to prepare for the storm.

Fishermen have been advised not to venture out to sea and to monitor the storms development closely.

Coastal localities asked to brace for approaching typhoon

Coastal localities from northern Quang Ninh to central Quang Ngai provinces have been requested to promptly brace for typhoon Maysak, forecast to enter the East Sea in the next few days.

At 7 a.m of April 3, Maysak was spotted at 13.9 degrees north and 131.1 degrees east, about 1,000 km to the east-southeast of the Philippines’ Luzon Island, reported the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

With winds reportedly packed to 134-149km per hour, the typhoon is forecast to move west-northwest at a speed of 20km per hour in the next 24 hours.

By 7 a.m of April 4, the storm is likely to be seen in the east-southeastern area about 500km off Luzon Island with a wind speed hitting 103-133km per hour.

In the next 48-72 hours, Maysak will continue the west-northwestern course at 15-20km per hour and possibly enter the East Sea, the centre said.

Once hitting the East Sea, it will be the first storm to appear in the waters this year.

The standing office for the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control asked the above-mentioned localities and the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Defence, Transport, and Foreign Affairs to closely follow Maysak’s movement and notify boats currently operating at sea about the typhoon.

The localities and concerned agencies were also told to gear up search and rescue forces and vehicles in anticipation of emergency cases.

Nine or ten storms and tropical depressions will occur in the East Sea this year, four or five of these will directly hit the Vietnamese mainland, according to the forecasting centre.-