foreshock

From fore- +‎ shock.

foreshock (plural foreshocks)

1. (geology) A small earth tremor which precedes the mainshock in an earthquake sequence. Not all mainshocks have foreshocks.
2. Any shock or disturbance that precedes an event
   • 1991, D. Roderick Kiewiet, Mathew D. McCubbins, The Logic of Delegation - Page 88:

     The FY 1981 increases in defense — something of a "foreshock" to the rapid rise in defense spending over the next several years — were prompted by the fall of the Shah in Iran and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

• aftershock

• forehocks