Actually it sounds like you are confirming what I stated, rather than disputing it. Consider that the map in post seven shows 386 earthquakes occurring in California in the last week. So how many is that over a period of time?
At that rate that is about 20,000 earthquakes in a year. Given that rate may be unusually high, but even if it is off by a factor of 2, that is still 10,000 quakes in a year.
As I said, I would be more concerned of a big one if we were not having any small ones.
Of those 386 quakes I believe only one or two are M4; most are M 1-2 microquakes.
Each jump up the Richter scale is 32 times more strain energy released.
Those quakes aren't relieving much stress at all.
Main thing about small/medium quakes is that they each individual one really doesn't have any grand higher meaning; however, it's not a sign that that area is safe from a larger quake or anything. There are many situations (foreshock swarms, the Mogi Donut) etc. where they are in fact an indication of a larger quake to come.
Another good example is the SF Bay area from 1850 or so to 1906; you saw an increasing number of medium earthquakes (M5s, M6s) in the whole Bay Area, till the big shebang finally went in 1906....that quake actually DID relieve stress so quake activity in the area was very low till the 1980s; now it's increasing again.