This special issue emerged following the 2013 8th International Statistical Seismology
(StatSei8) workshop in Beijing. The articles within have been collected to report on exciting
new research in statistical seismology methods and applications it contains a collection of
the newest methods techniques and results related to statistical analysis of earthquake
occurrence and earthquake probability forecasting. The articles within ultimately help to
define future research directions in the field. Especially the rapid development of
observation technologies has brought geophysical research into the big-data era. This includes
not only non-seismicity geophysical data such as GPS observation on surface displacement
InSAR observation of the co-seismic deformation ionospheric observations etc. but also
extended seismological data including slow earthquakes tremor and VLF earthquakes. The
subject of statistical seismology bridges the gap between physical and statistical models. Many
significant achievements have been accomplished during the last several decades including
formulation of conditional intensity models for quantifying seismicity rates earthquake
probability forecasts and theories related to rigorous testing of forecast models.
