Dynamic earthquake rupture is one of the most extensive and devastating fracture phenomena on the Earth. It causes a sudden crustal deformation around a fault and generates seismic waves that induce bulk density variations propagating with them. Both processes constitute rock-mass redistribution, which is expected to induce simultaneous transient gravity perturbations at all distances before the arrival of P-waves. Interest in such pre-P gravity signals has increased both in terms of modelling and observations because of their potential for earthquake early warning. A simple forward model has pioneered the search for the so-called prompt elasto-gravity signals, which led to the first report of a signal from the 2011 M_w9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake using a single superconducting gravimeter record. The second report followed using hundreds of broadband seismometers with critical modification of the previous model to consider the pre-P ground acceleration in the measurement of gravity. Post-event analyses have identified prompt elasto-gravity signals from several large earthquakes, and state-of-the-art instruments are now being developed for real-time signal detection. This paper reviews recent progress in the cutting-edge subject of prompt elasto-gravity signals owing to large-scale earthquake rupture.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fracture dynamics of solid materials: from particles to the globe’.

动态地震破裂是地球上最广泛和破坏性最大的破裂现象之一。它引起断层周围的地壳突然变形，并产生地震波，从而引起随其传播的堆积密度变化。这两个过程都构成了岩体的重新分布，这有望在P波到达之前的所有距离上引起同时的瞬时重力扰动。由于其潜在的地震预警作用，无论是在建模方面还是在观测方面，人们对此类Pre-P重力信号的兴趣都在增加。一个简单的正向模型开创了搜索所谓提示弹重力信号，这导致了从2011米的信号的第一份报告_瓦特使用单个超导重力仪记录的9.0东北大地震。第二份报告随后使用了数百个宽带地震仪，并对先前模型进行了重大修改，以考虑重力测量中的P前地面加速度。事件后分析已经确定了来自几次大地震的及时弹性重力信号，并且目前正在开发用于实时信号检测的最先进的仪器。本文回顾了由于大规模地震破裂而产生的迅速弹力信号这一前沿问题的最新进展。

本文是主题主题“固体材料的断裂动力学：从粒子到地球”的一部分。