Underwater Cables between countries that share oceans?

• I was trying to explain "Packet Switching" to my wife who has three degrees and I showed her the animation in the previous article. However, she said, "That makes no sense at all to me." I said, "Well. The packets are sent down cables to other countries." She said, "Aren't they sent in Satellites? There can't be that many cables under the ocean."
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• This made me think about this and I decided to look up underwater cable maps. I also said 
• to  her, "Satellite communications would be more expensive than underwater cables so most 2 way communication would be between underwater cables and microwave towers on land to different devices." 
• We also discussed how an EMP would be less of a problem with an underground cable than with Satellites (Electromagnetic pulse from the Sun 'Solar Flares' or a nuclear blast). So, being under the water would protect them mostly from EMP's which could harm communications between countries. 
• Then she asked, "What about Earthquakes, won't that sever the cables like the ones in the pacific in Indonesia and Japan during the last 15 years?"
• I said, "There might be enough give or slack to compensate for the stretch or push of an earthquake when we are talking about 1000s of miles long cables. So, it is possible they might stretch or give enough or crumple enough to withstand some or all earthquakes."
• To see better one particular map try clicking on it to see if it will enlarge for you:
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