Earthquake Statistics and Earthquake Prediction Research

Earthquake activity varies spatially and temporally. Seismologists are trying to accurately describe the seismicity using statistical models, and based on these make forecasts of future seismicity. Two basic laws, the Gutenberg Richter law that describes the earthquake size distribution of earthquakes, and the Omori law that describes the decay of aftershock activity are helpful in characterizing the independent and dependent part of the seismicity, respectively. Prediction of earthquakes, however, is currently impossible