MANILA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Philippine disaster officials issued severe weather warnings to a dozen provinces on the main island of Luzon on Wednesday, as the southeast Asian nation braced for Typhoon Durian.

The weather bureau said the typhoon, the 18th to threaten the Philippines this year, was packing winds of up to 150 km (93 miles) per hour, with gusts up to 180 kph, and was expected to hit land on Thursday evening or early Friday morning.

Typhoon Durian could develop into a maximum category 5 storm or "super typhoon" as it was likely to gain in strength, the bureau said.

Luzon is the most populated of the country's 7,100 islands and the main growing area for rice and coconuts.

Disaster officials asked residents of coastal and low-lying areas to move to higher ground, warning of flash floods, landslides and heavy rain.

"We have activated our emergency operating centres and sent out severe weather advisories to 12 provinces," Agnes Palacio, head of disaster operations, told Reuters.

"The provincial disaster coordinating councils are also stockpiling medicines and setting up heavy equipment needed in case of landslides."

The typhoon could also sweep close to the capital, Manila, which was severely battered by Typhoon Xangsane in late September.

Two other typhoons, Cimaron and Chebi, hit the country in late October and early November, causing landslides and flashfloods in some areas and massive damage to property.

In the worst disaster in the Philippines in recent years, more than 5,000 people died on the central island of Leyte in 1991 in floods triggered by a typhoon.

In 2004, a series of storms left about 1,800 people dead or missing, including 480 who were killed when mudslides buried three towns in Quezon, an eastern province. ($1 = 49.91)

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