HONG KONG — A super typhoon packing winds of up to 150 miles per hour is heading toward the Philippines, picking up speed over the Pacific on a route that also has Taiwan and the heavily populated southeastern coast of China in its sights.

Super Typhoon Mangkhut is on track to hit the northern Philippines with its strongest winds on Friday before striking Taiwan and then possibly veering south toward Hong Kong and mainland China.

As many as 43 million people could be exposed to cyclone-strength winds, according to the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System. Its winds are expected to intensify Thursday and Friday — reaching speeds as high as 161 m.p.h. — before weakening Saturday, the Hong Kong Observatory said.

It added that the typhoon “will pose considerable threat to the coast of Guangdong,” a coastal province in China with more than 100 million people.