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 Mw9.0 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’.