It’s Great ShakeOut Day in California, and just as preparations were being made for the annual earthquake drill, a 3.1M quake struck near Berkeley.

On Thursday morning at 9:23 am, an earthquake rattled under the East Bay, with an epicenter about one mile east of Berkeley, a magnitude of 3.1, and a depth of about four miles. The quake appears to have occurred on the Hayward Fault.

Shaking may have been felt in San Francisco — though I didn’t feel it. The USGS has not yet updated their Shake Map for the quake.

The earthquake arrived just under an hour before the annual Great California ShakeOut drill, which was scheduled for 10:16 am Thursday. Your MyShake app, if it was activated, should have buzzed at that time with the drill.

The coincidence apparently excited an editor at the New York Times, because despite the minor nature of the quake, they went with a blaring headline and an interactive feature. (Maybe this was like a drill for them, to see how fast they could get one of these things published in the event of a real, significant, California earthquake?)

This morning’s earthquake was significantly smaller than the one that also occurred on the Hayward Fault, centered in Berkeley, on September 22. That was a 4.3M, and jolted people awake across the Bay in San Francisco at 2:56 am.

Tomorrow, October 17, is the 36th anniversary of the Loma Prieta Earthquake, a 6.9M quake that took the lives of 63 people across the Bay Area.

According to the UC Berkeley Seismology Lab, the Hayward Fault currently holds the most potential dangers for the Bay Area, with a 33% chance of rupturing in a 6.7 magnitude earthquake or greater before 2043.

The Bay Area at large has a 72% chance of seeing a 6.7M or greater quake before 2043, taking into account other fault systems.

Given it’s drill day and all, let this be another reminder to have your emergency plans in place with friends or family, make sure to have some cash on hand in small denominations just in case electronic payment systems go down, and get a Go Bag together containing essential items like prescriptions, water, first aid, things you need for your pet, etc.