Thousands of people have evacuated from northern Philippine villages as one of this year's strongest typhoons threatened to cause flooding and landslides on its way to southeastern China.

Super Typhoon Ragasa had sustained winds of 215 km/h with gusts of up to 295 km/h when it slammed into Panuitan island off Cagayan province on mid-afternoon Monday, Philippine forecasters said.

Tropical cyclones with sustained winds of 185 km/h or higher are categorised in the Philippines as a super typhoon, a designation adopted years ago to underscore the urgency tied to such extreme weather.

Ragasa was heading west and forecast to remain in the South China Sea at least into Wednesday, while passing south of Taiwan and Hong Kong before landfall on the Chinese mainland.

The Philippines' weather agenc

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