Damietta is the only locality in Egypt specifically identified as having suffered earthquake damage during the earthquake sequence of January 749 CE by Severus Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ. His account describes a catastrophic earthquake that affected an enormous region extending "from the city of Gaza to the furthest extremity of Persia," causing the destruction of hundreds of cities and villages, the collapse of many houses, and the sinking of numerous ships. He contrasts this widespread devastation with conditions in Egypt, stating that the country escaped serious damage "except only Damietta," while Misr (Egypt) experienced only shaking that displaced beams and walls without causing structural collapse or loss of life.

The description suggests that Damietta sustained only moderate structural damage compared with the catastrophic destruction reported elsewhere in the Levant. The account provides no details regarding specific buildings or casualties at the city, merely distinguishing it as the sole Egyptian locality to have experienced significant earthquake effects. Given Damietta's location on the unconsolidated sediments of the Nile Delta, localized site effects such as sediment amplification and liquefaction may have increased the severity of ground deformation relative to nearby areas founded on firmer ground.

The causative earthquake was very likely the Holy Desert Quake South, which struck during the night of 16 January 749 CE. The comparatively modest damage reported from Damietta is consistent with its considerable distance from the inferred epicentral region in the southern Levant, while remaining compatible with amplification of shaking by the soft deltaic sediments underlying the city.