Typhoon Koinu weakens after entering East Sea

Typhoon Koinu lay centered in the eastern area of Vietnam's East Sea at 7 a.m. Friday, packing winds of 103-133 kph after lashing Taiwan.

According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, the typhoon, which entered the East Sea Thursday afternoon, will move towards the west at the speed of 10 kph and continue to get weaker.

By Saturday morning, it will lie 180 km away from Hong Kong with the strongest wind speed of 88 kph.

After that, it will move in the same direction and its wind speed will keep dropping.

The center forecast that the typhoon will weaken into a tropical depression on Sunday morning.

Both Japan and Hong Kong’s meteorological agencies have the same predictions, saying that the typhoon will weaken into a tropical depression and disappear in the sea before reaching China's Hainan Island.

Reuters reported earlier that Koinu brushed past southern Taiwan on Thursday evening as a typhoon, killing one person and injuring 304.

Koinu, which means "puppy" in Japanese, made landfall on Taiwan's Hengchun peninsula as a category four typhoon - indicating winds of up to 252 kph (156 mph) - but it weakened as it crossed into the Taiwan Strait and headed towards China's Guangdong province, Reuters said, citing Tropical Storm Risk.

Koinu made the fourth storm to enter Vietnam's waters this year.

Meteorological agencies said there would be one to two storms and tropical depressions affecting Vietnam's mainland this month.