"The activity we've had in the region would normally be spread over months rather than days,"Dr Kennett said.
"Up to magnitude-6 is not surprising, it's when you get over 7 that you start worrying,"he said.
"Most of these will occur at or near to plate boundaries, which is precisely where we have seen this activity in the last few weeks, in New Zealand, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and Myanmar,"Dr Ninis said.
"One example of an earthquake forecast in the region — we know that along the Australian-Pacific plate boundary, the 600km-long Alpine Fault has a 75 per cent chance of rupture in the next 50 years,"she said.
"The biggest problem we have is persuading people that they ought to build to standards where they'll stand up in the event of an earthquake, especially in poor countries,"Dr Kennett said.