Evidence for an earthquake at Oboda (Avdat) in the early 2nd century CE comes from indirect evidence of possible earthquake repairs. In the Roman/ Byzantine residential quarter immediately outside the town wall and acropolis, Phase 1 dates from the late 1st century BCE to the early 2nd century CE and consisted of a large structure, of which four rooms (Rooms 24, 27, 28, and 44) were excavated. Its walls were generally constructed of hewn fieldstones and survived in places to a height of three or four courses. Erickson-Gini et al. (2026) identified a possible earthquake repair in the eastern wall (W66) of Room 28. Unlike the more regular construction elsewhere in the building, W66 was constructed from large, roughly cut stone slabs laid over rows of smaller hewn stones. The excavators suggested that this non-uniform construction represented either a secondary construction stage or repair following earthquake damage at Oboda in the early 2nd century CE. They further noted that nearly identical construction employing rough, flat stones was documented at nearby Horvat Hazaza, where it was interpreted as repair of a structure damaged by an early 2nd-century CE earthquake. Erickson-Gini et al. (2026) also noted that "the doorway between Rooms 24 and 44 in W64 was blocked". Dating evidence from Room 28 is consistent with occupation of the structure prior to the proposed early second century CE earthquake and subsequent repair. A Nabataean coin of Aretas IV dated to 39/40 CE, a glass bowl rim dated to the 1st century CE, and numerous pottery sherds dating from the later 1st through early 2nd centuries CE were recovered from the floor layer. Erickson-Gini (2014) also noted that residential structures belonging to the earliest phase of the Nabataean settlement, east of the later Roman residential quarter, were demolished and subsequently used as a source of building stone for later structures.

The interpretation is strengthened by evidence for an early 2nd-century CE earthquake at other sites in the region. In addition to the closely comparable repair work at Horvat Hazaza, Erickson-Gini (2014) noted "well attested" destruction attributed to the same earthquake at `En Rahel in the Arava, Mampsis, and along the Petra to Gaza road at Mezad Mahmal, Sha'ar Ramon, Mezad Neqarot, and Moyat `Awad. Erickson-Gini and Israel (2013) also cited evidence for this same earthquake at Horvat Dafit.

At Oboda itself, however, the evidence is best regarded as indirect rather than definitive archaeoseismic evidence. No discrete earthquake destruction horizon was identified in the Phase 1 structure and the irregular construction of Wall W66 could alternatively represent a non-seismic secondary building phase.