Mikkola et al. (2008) reported that continuous sedentary occupation—“at least in the area of the church and the chapel”— probably ended in this phase, whose destruction was “probably of seismic character.” Because “much of the stone tumble in the church and the chapel created by this event” was “cleared in the following phase,” it was “difficult to securely associate any of the excavated strata with the collapse in Phase 10.”

The most visible evidence of destruction consisted of “craters left in the church floor by tumbling stones.” The marble floor was “badly damaged especially in the western part of the nave and the northern aisle,” where much of it was removed in the following phase. It appears that “the long N–S arch running between pilasters T.04 and G.06 collapsed in this phase.” Depressions preserved in the nave floor (locus T.29) marked “the places hit by the falling stones.” Although the stones were removed in Phase 11, “indirect evidence also exists for the collapse of the westernmost arch in the northern aisle and the one that spanned the easternmost part of the nave,” because “in these areas the marble floor was removed in Phase 11.” The authors concluded that “the removal of the floors was related to the damage caused by stones falling from the arches and other structures of the roof,” whereas “the floor was left untouched in those parts of the church where the arches did not collapse.”

They further noted that although the atrium and narthex walls and columns had already been damaged and partially removed in Phases 8 and 9, “they probably were not heavily affected by the destruction of Phase 10.” Nevertheless, “some of the stone tumble (lowest parts of locus H.02) in the area of the narthex may have been caused by this event.”

Mikkola et al. (2008) stated that it was “impossible to provide any reasonably accurate date for this disaster,” but noted that “ceramic deposits associated with Phase 11 provide a very rough date of the 9th century for that phase,” implying that the preceding Phase 10 destruction must have occurred sometime in the later 8th or early 9th century.