Tropical Storm Matmo edged closer to the Philippines on Thursday and was expected to intensify into a typhoon that could threaten southern China this weekend, just about a week after the region was battered by Ragasa, one of the strongest storms to hit Asia in years.
Matmo, which had maximum sustained winds of 65 kph (40 mph), is forecast to move west-northwest to the vicinity of Luzon, the Philippines' most populous region, at about 22 kph (13 mph), according to Hong Kong's observatory on Thursday morning. The country's central region was already grappling with the aftermath of an earthquake that killed dozens of people.
