Earlier quoted context omitted.
> A bunch of 7.X earthquakes in the ocean are not going to be hugely destructive. New Zealand’s 5th most deadly disaster was Christchurch’s 6.2 which killed 185 people. It was a shallow aftershock from a larger, less destructive quake. The damage was huge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Christchurch_earthquake
The key phrase in the parent is “in the ocean”
It’s a bit academic for a country like New Zealand where the sea is usually pretty close by.