A review on remotely sensed land surface temperature anomaly as an earthquake precursor

•A systematic survey of recent advances in LST precursory approaches.•Evaluates LST anomaly as a probable marker of an earthquake.•Analyses the appearance of LST anomaly within various seismic strain fields.•Highlights the needed improvements for geostatistical robustness. The low predictability of earthquakes and the high uncertainty associated with their forecasts make earthquakes one of the worst natural calamities, capable of causing instant loss of life and property. Here, we discuss the studies reporting the observed anomalies in the satellite-derived Land Surface Temperature (LST) before an earthquake. We compile the conclusions of these studies and evaluate the use of remotely sensed LST anomalies as precursors of earthquakes. The arrival times and the amplitudes of the anomalies vary widely, thus making it difficult to consider them as universal markers to issue earthquake warnings. Based on the randomness in the observations of these precursors, we support employing a global-scale monitoring system to detect statistically robust anomalous geophysical signals prior to earthquakes before considering them as definite precursors.