Seismicity anomalies prior to the 13 December 2008, M_s=5.7 earthquake in Central Greece

Abstract. This investigation has applied a recent methodology to identify seismic quiescence and seismic acceleration, prior to the occurrence of the 13 December 2008, M_s=5.7 earthquake in Central Greece. Anomalous seismic quiescence is observed around the epicentral area almost twelve years prior to the main shock and it lasted for a period of about four and a half years. After this period an acceleration in seismic activity began and lasted until the main shock. Modeling this seismic sequence with the time-to-failure equation and with a fixed value of the exponent "m" equal to 0.32, shows a successful estimation of the occurrence time of the main event within a few days. The physical meaning of this particular choice of the "m" value is discussed.