Storm Goni enters East Sea, heads for storm-battered central Vietnam

At 7 a.m. it lay centered around 740 kilometers southeast of Vietnam's Paracel Islands in the East Sea, known internationally as the South China Sea, with wind speeds of up to 75 kph, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

For the next 24 hours it is expected to continue moving northwest at a speed of 20 kph, by Wednesday morning reaching a spot around 300 kilometers from Quang Nam, which has just been hit by Storm Molave, one of the most powerful to hit Vietnam in the last two decades.

It will move west at a speed of 10 kph and make landfall over the region between Da Nang City and Phu Yen Province.

The Hong Kong Observatory too said Storm Goni would make landfall over central Vietnam.

It had swept across the Philippines' main island of Luzon on Sunday, killing at least 10 people and causing volcanic mudflows to bury houses before weakening, Reuters reported.

It had been dubbed a "super typhoon" when it reached the Philippines, packing sustained winds of up to 225 kph.

Goni is the 10th storm to hit Vietnamese waters this year. There had been four tropical storms and one tropical depression in October, the same as in 1993 and the highest number in the country’s recorded meteorological history.

Historic flooding and deadly landslides left at least 159 dead and 71 others missing in the central region last month.