Mlynarczyk (2017) documented destruction evidence from 2015–2016 excavations, which she attributed to one of the 749 CE Sabbatical Year Earthquakes. She also suggested that the collapse of the city wall was caused by the same seismic event.

In Area 1-S (W) Square 1 (W), Mlynarczyk (2017:484) observed that Floor F III rested “in part upon quake-related debris of mostly regular limestone blocks tumbled in a northerly direction, doubtlessly from [Wall] W V.” These fallen ashlar blocks lay on a compacted earthen floor (F IV), approximately 0.65 m below Floor F III. Ceramic material sealed beneath Floor F IV, which appeared uncontaminated, was dated to the late Byzantine–Umayyad period, supporting the interpretation that the collapse was associated with the 749 CE earthquake.

In Area 1-S Square 9, Mlynarczyk (2017:489) reported that “the space between [Walls] W II and W III in the northeastern part of the trench” was “filled with ashlars tumbled from the wall(s).” Although this unsealed deposit contained “some intrusive material of a later (Abbasid) period,” the pottery assemblage was still interpreted as evidence for destruction caused by the 749 CE Sabbatical Year Earthquakes. The absence of a floor above the debris indicates that habitation in “this particular area” ceased following the event.