The first earthquake was revealed in the constructions built during the late Rashidun period (644–656 A.D.) ( al-Tarazi and Khorjenkov, 2007), thus providing a terminus post quem of 644–656 CE. A terminus ante quem of ~750 CE was established by Early Abbasid structures built after the first seismic destruction. This suggests that the damage was caused either by the Jordan Valley Quake of 659/660 CE (less likely due to distance) or, more likely, by one of the mid–8th century CE earthquakes.

Excavations in 2008 revealed further evidence. Damgaard (2008) documented substantial infilling and leveling in Phase 3 which, based on its artefactual yield, must be considered Abbasid in date and corresponds roughly to Whitcomb’s ‘Phase B’. Damgaard suggested that this levelling appears to be associated with a period of widespread reconstruction following a significant collapse—most probably due to the 748 CE earthquake. Of particular interest was evidence for the destruction of an east–west wall set perpendicular to a north–south wall (L57/W13). Although only the negative profile survives—identified as a robber trench—and the foundations are absent, a patterned collapse of mud-brick, including a carbonised wooden beam, was discovered on its southern side. Additional support comes from a collapse layer in Tower 2 dated to the mid–8th century (Damgaard, 2011, Appendices:12).