SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has been put on maximum alert and issued school closure and evacuation orders Monday, as Typhoon Bolaven, expected to be the strongest storm to hit the nation in a decade, rapidly approaches the peninsula.
The typhoon, named after a plateau in Laos, was moving north-northwest at a speed of 34 kilometers per hour from waters some 460 kilometers off South Korea's southern island of Jeju as of noon, according to the Korea Meteorological Agency (KMA).
The typhoon is forecast to make landfall on the Korean Peninsula starting with Jeju Island at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, and will move northward along the west coast until it hits Seoul at 2 p.m. later the same day, the KMA said.
The storm has somewhat weakened compared to earlier Monday morning but maintained a central pressure of 940 hectopascals and a maximum wind speed of 50 meters per second, the KMA said. A typhoon with a maximum wind speed of 44 meters per second is classified as "super strong" and powerful enough to move large rocks. (Click title for link to full Yonhap article)
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