There were fears of overnight storm surges heading into Sunday, when the full extent of the damage wreaked by Hagupit was expected to become clear.

Philippine weather bureau PAGASA said the eye of the typhoon - known locally as Ruby - had hit the town of Dolores, in the eastern part of Samar island, at 9:15 p.m. (1315 UTC).

Power was cut across much of the center of the island as well as nearby Leyte province - including Tacloban city, which was so badly devastated by Hurricane Haiyan last year.

The downgraded "supertyphoon" was said to be moving at a relatively slow speed of 16 kilometers per hour (10 mph) after making landfall. PAGASA said Hagupit - the name of which means "lash" in Filipino - would head northwest, slightly north of the areas so badly flattened by Haiyan.

The country's national disaster agency said residents of low-lying villages and landslide-prone areas had moved to schools, civic centers, town halls and other public buildings. However, the relief agency Refugees International said in a statement that it was "deeply concerned" that evacuation centers may not be safe.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) in Geneva said about a million people had fled their homes by the time the hurricane made landfall.

Forecasters warned the hurricane could cause storm surges as high as five meters, and would also bring heavy rains to the capital Manila, although it would not hit the city directly.

rc/bk (AFP,AP, dpa, Reuters)