Authorities evacuated thousands of residents along east China's coast and recalled ships to harbors as the region braced for the arrival of Typhoon Ewiniar, the Xinhua News Agency said Sunday.

Some 7,600 people have been moved to schools or temporary shelters in the city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province, Xinhua said. It did not say when the evacuations began.

Evacuations were also underway in the coastal cities of Taizhou, Zhoushan and Wenzhou, Xinhua said.

Additionally, 8,000 ships have been moved to safety in Ningbo and Zhoushan, the agency said.

The Zhejiang Provincial Meteorological Observatory said the typhoon would probably not make landfall at Zhejiang but could bring strong winds of up to 110 miles an hour, according to Xinhua.

The storm crossed Japan's Okinawan archipelago just east of Miyako island on Saturday evening with winds of up to 89 miles per hour.

The typhoon was expected to churn northwestward into the East China Sea and reach the Yellow Sea between China and the Korean Peninsula by Monday afternoon.