BEIJING, Aug 5 (AP) -- Residents in eastern China were preparing Friday for the onslaught of Typhoon Matsa, which was expected to unleash high winds and torrential rains in the region, state media said.

The government of Zhejiang province issued an emergency notice warning that the typhoon was expected to land in the evening and said that it was taking precautions to protect people and their property, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. It did not provide any details.

Parts of Fujian and Jiangsu provinces, as well as Shanghai, also were expected to be affected, the China Daily said.

"Coastal authorities should be well prepared for the typhoon as it could combine with a local spring tide to cause increased devastation," an unnamed spokesman from the National Meteorological Center was quoted as saying.

Lightning, thunder and hailstorms were to be expected, the spokesman said.

The Zhejiang provincial meteorological bureau warned of landslides and mud-rock flows in the coastal areas and the southern parts of the province, Xinhua said.

Matsa, named after a Laotian fish, swirled seas near Taiwan on Thursday, moving northwest at a speed of 14 kilometers (8 miles) per hour and packing sustained winds of 144 kph (89 mph), according to the island's Central Weather Bureau.