In 1170 CE, a powerful earthquake (or series of earthquakes) devastated Syria and the Beqaa Valley, including Baalbek, as described by a number of authors. Ibn al-Athir wrote that “the earth shook a number of times in a terrifying way" and "there was very serious damage at Damascus, Baʿalabik, Hims, Hamat, Shayzar, Baʿrin, Aleppo and elsewhere". Walls and citadels were "destroyed everywhere” and many people perished. When Nūr al-Dīn learned of the destruction, he went to Baalbek to rebuild its ruined walls and citadel, unaware that other cities lay in ruins as well. A similar account by Kemal ad-Din (aka Ibn Al-Adim) confirms that “great parts of Damascus, Baalbek, Emessa, Hamah, Shaizar, Barin, Aleppo etc. were ruined.” He likewise noted that walls, citadels, and houses collapsed killing many inhabitants and Nūr al-Dīn rushed to Baalbek to repair its damaged walls and fortress.

From the Syriac world, Bar Hebraeus wrote that “the earth rocked like a ship on the sea" and "the walls of Aleppo and Baʿelbak and Hamath and Emesa and Shaizar… fell down upon their inhabitants.” Writing roughly 150 years after the earthquakee(s), Ibn al-Dawādārī recalled that “there was a great earthquake in Aleppo, Baalbek, and their environs" and "a bottomless fissure opened up in the mountains overlooking Baalbek" There were many fatalities and aftershocks were said to continue for months. Finally, the fifteenth-century Egyptian scholar as-Suyūṭī noted that “the enclosure as well as most of the citadel of Baʿalbakk was destroyed" and Nūr al-Dīn repaired most of what had collapsed.”