MELBOURNE, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Authorities on Thursday said that Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila is tracking towards eastern Papua New Guinea (PNG) as a Category 4 storm in the Solomon Sea.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said that the cyclone was located 910 km east of Port Moresby at 4 a.m. local time Australian Eastern Standard Time on Thursday (1800 GMT on Wednesday) and moving west.

It said that the cyclone had dropped in strength from Category 5 on Wednesday to Category 4 on Thursday, with wind gusts of up to 260 km per hour.

Separate tracking maps released on Thursday by the BoM and the PNG National Weather Service (NWS) forecast that the cyclone would drop to Category 3 strength on Friday while continuing to move west.

Both projected that the cyclone could make landfall on the easternmost point of the island of New Guinea near the town of Alotau, 370 km east of Port Moresby, on Saturday or Sunday.

The PNG NWS said in an updated emergency warning on Thursday that people in the Milne Bay Province, of which Alotau is the capital, should take precautions to prepare for very heavy rain and flooding, coastal inundation and damaging winds.

"People are advised to stay away from the edge of the sea. Seek higher ground until the cyclone threat passes," it said.

The BoM said that the cyclone may cross the Australian coast early next week. ■