Evidence for 8th-century CE earthquake destruction has been identified at multiple locations in the northwest quarter of Jerash, where the collapse patterns indicate sudden and widespread failure. A terminus post quem in the 8th century CE is supported by coins, pottery, and radiocarbon samples, while a clear terminus ante quem is harder to establish because many structures were abandoned rather than rebuilt.

In trenches P and V, a multi-storey Umayyad courtyard house on the East Terrace collapsed, leaving crushed pottery, architectural debris, and a skeleton with “completely fractured” bones caused by falling “heavy stones” (Kalaitzoglou et al., 2022:161–162). In Trench T, in the north-western corner of the so-called Ionic Building, Kalaitzoglou et al. (2022:144) documented walls bulging to the southeast and a thick layer of soil and tumbled stones over a disturbed deposit containing Umayyad “fragments of tableware, cooking and common ware, and transport vessels.” A residential structure in Trench U suffered sudden roof and wall collapse, sealing crushed pottery within the debris (Kalaitzoglou et al., 2022:152). In the Mosaic Hall of Trench W, Kalaitzoglou et al. (2022:169) recorded a sunken mosaic floor along with wall and roof collapse. The nearby so-called 'Synagogue Church' went out of use after the earthquake (Lichtenberger Raja, 2018b:89) and finally, in Trench K of the “House of Scroll,” Lichtenberger et al. (2021:28–29) reported a collapsed upper story and first-floor ceiling, beneath which a coin hoard was discovered.

Deformation Map - Click on image to open a higher res magnifiable image in a new tab - Modified by JW from Fig. 2 of Lichtenberger and Raja (2022), Fig. 7 of Kalaitzoglou et al (2022), Fig. 10 of Kalaitzoglou et al (2022), Fig. 12 of Kalaitzoglou et al (2022), Fig. 16 of Kalaitzoglou et al (2022), and Trench K photogram of Lichtenberger et al. (2021)