In pictures: Taiwan braces for super Typhoon Maria
Maria was expected to make landfall late on Tuesday, hitting Taiwan's northern region the hardest.
Vegetables are sold out at a supermarket, as residents ready themselves for the typhoon.
Taiwan braced for super Typhoon Maria on Tuesday, as airlines cancelled flights and the weather bureau warned against landslides and flash floods on the heavily industrialised island.
Maria was expected to make landfall late on Tuesday, hitting Taiwan's northern region the hardest, as it moves in a west-northwesterly direction at 30 kilometres per hour from its location 490 kilometres east of Yilan County, weather officials said.
Taiwan is frequently hit by typhoons during the summer, but it has stepped up preparations to guard against them since Typhoon Morakot devastated the island in 2009.
Fishermen in the northern city of Keelung tied up boats as they braced for the storm. China Airlines and Eva Airways, Taiwan's two largest carriers, cancelled scores of flights and warned that more could be delayed because of the typhoon.
A glassdoor is seen taped, as people braced for super Typhoon Maria in Taipei. The government ordered schools and businesses to close early, although it had not yet decided whether to close financial markets, companies and schools on Wednesday.
A fisherman (C) navigates a raft near boats filling the Patoutzu Fishing Harbour in Keelung. Troops were deployed in some areas, with heavy rain and winds expected into early on Wednesday.
Morakot in 2009 was the deadliest typhoon to hit Taiwan in recorded history, killing nearly 700 people, most of them in landslides.
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