Taipei - Taiwan on Friday braced for the landfall of Typhoon Morakot, which had already paralysed the island's road and air traffic.

The edge of the typhoon, 250 kilometres in diameter, reached Taiwan's north-east coast Friday morning with landfall of the storm's centre expected Friday night, the Central Weather Bureau said.

By 9 am (0100 GMT), the eye of the typhoon was 200 kilometres south-east of Ilan on the north-east coast.

Moving at 12 kilometres per hour in a north-easterly direction, it was packing centre winds of 144 kph and gusts of 180 kph.

If it maintains its course and speed, Morakot was expected to hit Taiwan Friday night, cross the Taiwan Strait and slam into China's south-east coast Sunday night, the meteorologists said.

From Thursday to Friday, the typhoon brought strong winds and torrential rains to north-east and central Taiwan.

The typhoon cut off power to about 54,000 homes in northern Taiwan, according to the Taiwan Power Co, and triggered landslides in the central mountains.

Taiwan has declared Friday a "typhoon holiday" to prevent typhoon-related accidents.

Airlines have canceled domestic flights and have canceled or rescheduled international flights.

Railways continued to operate but with reduced frequency. (dpa)