BEIJING - China's meteorological authority on Friday upgraded the level of warning for super typhoon Usagi, which may become the strongest typhoon to hit China this year.

At 5 pm Beijing time, a previous yellow alert for the typhoon was replaced by the orange one, the second highest, according to a statement of the National Meteorological Center (NMC).

The NMC said the center of Usagi was 410 kilometers southeast of Taiwan's Cape Eluanbi at 5 pm Friday, and would move northwestward at a speed of about 20 km per hour with little change or slight drop in its force.

Usagi will bring strong gales to sea waters of the Taiwan Strait, the east and south of Taiwan on Friday and Saturday, the center forecast.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red being the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

An yellow alert was issued by the center at 7 pm Thursday.