Several sources describe an earthquake in Damascus which, according to the Damascus native and scion Ibn ʿAsākir struck at dawn on 24 November 847 CE (11 Rabiʿ II A.H. 233). All known accounts were written more than three centuries after the event but generally agree on the main details. Ibn ʿAsākir’s version can probably be considered reliable. He was renowned for his encyclopedic work Taʾrīkh Dimashq (History of Damascus) and likely had access to archival sources documenting the city’s history. That said, Ibn ʿAsākir wrote about this earthquake in the apparently lost text Kitāb al-Zalāzil (Book of Earthquakes) which was accessed and quoted by as-Suyūṭī. Ibn ʿAsākir wrote that many bridges and houses collapsed in Damascus and appears to indicate that the Great Umayyad Mosque was damaged, stating that a quarter of the mosque was torn open, its great stone blocks were thrown down, and the minaret collapsed. He also noted that many people fled to the musallāh and prayed there until noon when “everything calmed down.” Writing later, Damascene Ibn al-ʿImād explicitly stated that the Great Umayyad Mosque of Damascus was damaged, writing that a quarter of its minaret fell down and that many terraces collapsed. He added that houses were destroyed, huge stones were displaced, windows in the souks were shattered, and many people died beneath the rubble. He also noted that the earthquake lasted three hours. al-Dhahabī likewise stated that the earthquake lasted three hours, perhaps reflecting the interval between the main shock and its final strong aftershock. He added that survivors ran to the mosques, many people died in the ruins, and walls collapsed throughout the city.