The Central Weather Bureau has issued land and sea warnings for Typhoon Matmo which landed in Taiwan at 2pm Tuesday.
The typhoon is expected to hit Taiwan the strongest from late Tuesday afternoon throughout Wednesday with heavy rain and gusty winds throughout most of the island.
The bureau said that at 6pm on Tuesday, the eye of the typhoon was about 210 kilometers south southeast of Hualien’s waterfront and traveling at 21 kilometers per hour in a north northwesterly direction.
The typhoon hit Taitung and the Hengchun peninsula at 2pm.
The bureau is advising people to stay away from the ocean as all of Taiwan’s waters may be affected. Seas near Taitung have seen waves of up to 10 meters.
Central Weather Bureau official Lo Ya-june spoke on Tuesday about the typhoon.
"At 2pm, Typhoon Matmo hit Taitung and the Hengchun peninsula. It’s now in the Hualien area and moving towards eastern Taiwan and the entire island," Lo said. "The eye of the typhoon will move over Taiwan from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning. So the biggest impact will be seen from late Tuesday afternoon to all of Wednesday.
Heavy rains are expected throughout the island from 5pm Tuesday to 17pm Wednesday in northern, eastern and central Taiwan.
The Central Weather Bureau predicts that the typhoon will move away from Taiwan late on Wednesday night or early Thursday.
A tropical depression is also forming 1500 kilometers east of Matmo. The Central Weather Bureau says it is possible this will become a typhoon, but since it is quite far from Typhoon Matmo, the two storms should not influence each other.