China is building an underground monitoring system that will predict earthquakes up to three weeks in advance, state media reported.

Potential quakes will be identified through the use of "sensory technology" which will act like "X-ray or CT scanners", creating an image of seismic activity, reports said.

"The real-time image generated from sensors will help the public forecast earthquakes of magnitudes above 5.0 as easily as reading a meteorological cloud image," the Global Times said, citing scientists.

Dr Wang Tun, the lead scientist for the project, said authorities could "release forecasts as early as three weeks ahead of time", the newspaper reported.

The sensors will be installed at 2,000 monitoring stations across the two Chinese provinces which are most prone to earthquakes, Sichuan and Yunnan, in the country's south-west. It will then be rolled out across the country.