Yellowstone swarms?

I've tried to navigate my way through the massive thread on Yellowstone, but to no avail.

What I'm wondering is if the earthquake swarm happening now is a lot different from previous swarms. Are there more Earthquakes in a shorter period of time? Are they more intense?

This article is what got me confused about all the attention to the current swarm:

article

The largest recorded earthquake swarm in Yellowstone occurred in the fall of 1985 in the northwest rim of the caldera (Figure 3). The three-month period of increased earthquake activity included over 3000 events of magnitude 0 to 4.9 (about 1800 events with magnitudes between 1 and 4.9). Interestingly, the 1985 swarm was close in time to the change from caldera uplift to subsidence (see Figure 1).

Other noticeable swarms occurred in 1977, 1995, 1999, and 2004.

Another large swarm occurred in July of 1995 west of the Norris Geyser Basin (Figure 4). There were approximately 480 events over a seven-day period ranging in magnitude from 0.2 to 3.1.

So how does the current swarm compare to previous ones in numbers and in strength? Is it significantly different?


[edit on 9/1/09 by rubix]

I was really really into that thread at first, probably for about two weeks. Unfortunately it seems they are really grasping at straws on that thread now.

Sure, the original swarms were bizarre to say the least but what has been happening since is very normal from the research I have done.

The difference originally was the amount of earthquakes that happened over two days and the intensity of a few (the most intense being a 3.9). From what I remember they had over 400 in one week (around 900 to date) when normally they only have 1000-2000 total a year.

From the article you presented though, it doesn't seem like this swarm was of any significance compared to the others.