(VOVworld) – Typhoon Soudelor, the strongest typhoon of the year, is bearing down on Taiwan's east coast, forcing the evacuation of more than 2,000 people from outlying islands popular with tourists.

Thousands evacuated as typhoon Soudelor heads toward Taiwan (Photo: Sam Yeh/AFP)

The typhoon, packing maximum wind gusts of up to 209 kilometers per hour, was 790 kilometers south-east of Hualien county as of 5:30pm, local time.

It has been categorized as a moderate storm by Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau but other observatories in the region class it as a severe typhoon.

Soudelor, predicted to strengthen as it approaches Taiwan, is expected to batter the island hardest between late Friday and early Saturday.