PUERTO ESCONDIDO, Mexico -- Southern Mexico’s Pacific coast was braced for a Thursday morning impact with the approach of Hurricane Erick, which was upgraded to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 early Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Erick made landfall in Mexico’s southern Pacific coast as a Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds Thursday.

The hurricane had been a Category 4 storm as it bore down from the eastern Pacific toward Mexico. The authorities ordered evacuations in Oaxaca and Guerrero.