Unfortunately, while small earthquakes can relieve stress, the amount of energy they displace is inconsequential in terms of the most destructive earthquakes.

Unfortunately, while small earthquakes can relieve stress, the amount of energy they displace is inconsequential in terms of the most destructive earthquakes. You would need 1 million magnitude-3 earthquakes to release the equivalent amount of energy from a single magnitude-7 quake. You'd need 33 million magnitude-3s to release the equivalent energy from a magnitude-8, etc.