The straufen issue wasn't an earthquake. A chemical reaction occured when water mixed with an anhydrous layer, causing the ground to swell up to 12 inches per the linked wiki article.

The really interesting question might sound even more absurd: did that earthquake release stress that would have been released sooner or (worse:) later anyways? Should people affected by the earthquake thank the family for releasing stress before more accumulate?

Not absurd. Do you think the same might apply to quakes caused by fracking?

That's literally what I've been wondering next. The question marks where genuine, not rhetoric.

(I can't claim that this is always the case with my question marks, so I'm in no position to complain if they are not taken at face value)

Same. Not a rhetorical question.

Wildfires are the clear analogue. I wonder if it actually works that way. I would guess not. The size and strength of a massive earthquake is just so hard to understand. That the Richter scale is logarithmic is just incredible. A few small quakes here and there seem unlikely to meaningfully detract from its power.