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© Creative Commons photo, WikimediaMount Baker
Mount Baker is long overdue for an eruption, considering how much "wagging" is going on inside the volcano.
Mark Jellinek, a volcanologist at the University of British Columbia, told the Montreal Gazette that the Washington volcano is showing signs of activity, most notably that it's shaking and vibrating - "wagging," as those in the volcano business say - because of giant columns of magma moving from within.

Jellinek and Yale researcher David Bercovici published research in the journal Nature saying the movement could help predict when the mountain will explode.

From the Montreal Gazette:
"It's basically like a dog wagging its tail," says Jellinek, except that the magma columns are up to a kilometre high. They are so powerful they shake mountains, and when they blow they can hurl hot ash up to 40 kilometres into the atmosphere, with sometimes devastating impact as the ash spreads across surrounding areas. (Vancouver is far enough from Mount Baker that it will be spared the worst, although Jellinek says the city could be covered in a thick layer of fine ash. "It would make a huge mess," he says.)
Bercovici described the shaking as a warning "and a vital clue about what is going on in the belly of the beast."

UPDATE: The University of British Columbia provided this update Friday. "Mt. Baker is the youngest volcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc in Washington State. Based on its eruptive history, it is indeed overdue for an eruption. However, in geological terms, 'overdue' does not equate 'tomorrow,' or 'next month.' Indeed, it could be another 500-1000 years before it's "due" for an eruption."