Earthquake prediction

Branch of geophysics, primarily seismology

Earthquake prediction is an operational objective within the broader framework of earthquake forecasting, specifically representing a forecast where uncertainty and error margins are sufficiently minimized to allow decision makers to implement drastic or immediate public safety measures. It is traditionally defined as the specification of the time, location, and magnitude of future earthquakes within stated limits. While prediction has historically been treated as distinct from earthquake forecasting (the probabilistic assessment of general earthquake hazard over long time horizons), modern operational seismology increasingly views prediction as the deterministic limit of a probabilistic forecast, where localized probability rises high enough to justify short-term public alerts or evacuations.

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