Kelso et al. (1968:13) observed that the S jamb of the Middle Bronze II northwest gate showed evidence of reconstruction. The work was executed in "semi-dressed stone and was better workmanship than the N jamb." Since there were no signs of burning, they speculated that "perhaps earthquake action destroyed the old jamb." Kelso et al. (1968:14) also recorded that the "N wall of the gateway building leaned to the N." They could not determine "whether this was due to earthquake action or to irregular pressure from the temple wall directly beneath it which served as its foundation courses." They further noted that "although the N unit of the gateway pier did not lean as much as the rest of the N wall, the largest stones of the pier showed pressure cracks." Finally, Kelso et al. (1968:46) noted that "an earthquake in the earlier phase [of MB IIB] had left some collapsed walls".

If an earthquake was responsible for damaging a door jamb, tilting a wall, and cracking some stones, it must have occurred after the the northwest gate was constructed on top of the destroyed Middle Bronze temple. It may have taken place before the apparent burning of the town by military action that produced the thick ash layer separating Middle Bronze II subphases. It appears that after Kelso et al. (1968) published their report, the chronological framework — or at least the broader divisions within it — has been revised. Since Raphael and Agnon (2018:774) date the Middle Bronze Temple Earthquake to Middle Bronze IIB, which they place between 1750 and 1550 BCE, the speculative Northwest Gate Quake may have struck at the end of the Middle Bronze or perhaps in the Late Bronze Age. In broadest possible terms, this would constrain the speculative Norwest Gate Quake to between 1750 and 1200 BCE. If, however, we assume that the proposed Northwest Gate Earthquake took place before the deposition of the ash layer that separates the two Middle Bronze IIB phases, the potential timeframe narrows to roughly 1750–1550 BCE — with 1550 BCE marking both the close of Middle Bronze IIB and the onset of 18th Dynasty Egyptian conquest and dominance in the Levant.