Area J-East in the archaeological site of Aila preserves one of the most detailed archaeoseismic records along the southern Dead Sea Transform. Located approximately 500 m north of the modern shoreline of the Gulf of Aqaba and about 500 m northwest of the later Islamic city of Ayla, the Nabatean, Roman, Byzantine, and Early Islamic occupation sequence spans from the first century CE through the Early Islamic period. Aila occupies a tectonic setting at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba where left-lateral motion on the Aqaba Fault is transferred westward across the Wadi Arabah by a series of shoreline-parallel normal cross faults. One of these active faults (CF-5) intersects the western part of Area J-East, providing a rare opportunity to document repeated surface faulting, structural damage, repair, and stratigraphic displacement within a well-dated archaeological sequence.

Thomas et al. (2007:63) assigned Earthquake VII to the second century CE on the basis of Nabataean pottery recovered from both the collapse layer and the underlying deposit. They noted that the cause of the collapse could not be determined with certainty, observing that following the Roman annexation of Nabataea in 106 CE there is “debate about the degree of Nabataean resistance to the annexation that might have resulted in destruction by human agency in this period.” Nevertheless, Thomas et al. (2007) also remarked that “a complete section of collapsed wall might suggest earthquake destruction.” Because excavations were extended to approximately 2 masl depth in only a limited part of the site, the authors were unable to determine whether the event produced measurable vertical or horizontal surface displacement.

In Area B, Dolinka (2003:32) found that some structures "exhibited inwardly collapsed walls and/or tumbled-over mudbricks (Fig. 14)" which was attributed to earthquake destruction in the early 2nd century CE.

• Fig. 1b Quaternary Geologic
  Fig. 3
  
  Quaternary geologic map of the region along the Dead Sea Transform north of the Gulf of Aqaba, showing the geometry offaults in the region of Aqaba, Jordan, and Elat, Israel (modified after Garfunkel 1970).
  
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  Thomas et al (2007)
  Map of the Southern Arava from Thomas et al (2007)
• Fig 2.8 b Map showing location of
  Fig. 2.8 B)
  
  Map of Aqaba showing the three archaeological sites near the coast, some major roads, and location of cross faults and possible Aqaba fault strands.
  
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  Niemi (2014)
  location of Area J-east from Niemi (2014)
• Fig. 2.15 Plan of Area J-east
  Fig. 2.15
  
  Faults exposed in the Roman Aqaba Project excavation Area J-East
  
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  Niemi - Chapter 2 from Parker et al (2014)
  from Thomas et al (2007)
• Fig. 3 Plan of Roman Aila from
  Fig. 8
  
  Plan of the areas excavated by the Roman Aqaba Project, after the 1998 season. Note that the location of Nabataean/Roman Aila is in the area not surveyed by Meloy (courtesy of RAP).
  
  JW: Area B is in upper middle of map
  
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  Dolinka (2003)
  from Dolinka (2003)
• Fig. 3 Composite columnar
  Fig. 3
  
  Schematic columnar stratigraphic section of the deposits at the J-East site, showing mudbrick tumble from earthquakes on floor levels, sand horizons, occupational levels, and earthquake event horizons.
  
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  Thomas et al (2007)
  stratigraphic section for J-east site from Thomas et al (2007)

Figure 14

Tumbled-over mudbricks from the domestic complex in B.1/3 bear witness to the earthquake that ushered in the Abandonment II phase at Aila during the early-2nd century AD (courtesy of RAP)

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Dolinka (2003)