Seismicity Precursors and Their Practical Account

Earthquakes (EQs) are the most unpredictable and damaging natural disasters. Over the last hundred years the scientific community has been engaged in an intense endeavor to attain a confident and secure method of seismic activity forecasting. So far, despite the efforts, no fully validated method for predicting EQs has been established. However, research of the last thirty years has documented a substantial number of seismic precursor phenomena, the correct evaluation and application of which may pave the way for the development of a reliable EQ prediction method in the near future. The majority of the recent documented seismic precursors belong to the modern and fast developing field of electro-seismology, while a smaller subset remains within the more traditional domain of classical seismology- geophysics. This article aims to compile, classify, and assess the most well-documented precursors while also proposing a preliminary framework for their more effective application.