After slamming into the southern Philippines and claiming more than 200 lives, Typhoo Bopha has hit the East Sea.

This makes it the ninth typhoon to hit the East Sea this year, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

With wind strengths of up to 118-133 kilometres per hour, the storm could create rough seas from central Da Nang City to Tien Giang in the Mekong Delta from December 6.

At 4pm Dec 5, the eye of the storm was 450km east-south-east of Song Tu Tay Island in the Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago.

The storm is expected to move north-westerly at speeds of 15-20km/h in the next 24 hours.

“It could move in a complicated fashion and stay around for five to six days,” the centre’s director, Bui Minh Tang, said at an urgent meeting on Dec 5.

He also said it would strongly affect the central region of the East Sea within a day or so.

Calls have been made to authorities in coastal localities from central Da Nang City to the Mekong Delta to take precautions against the storm.

By Dec 5 morning, more than 250,000 people and nearly 50,000 fishing vessels had been informed of the dangers, according to the National Steering Committee for Search and Rescue.-VNA