Several strands of archaeological evidence indicate that Palmyra experienced a destructive earthquake between the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, with infrastructure damage providing the clearest signal. According to Intagliata (2018:27), water pipes believed to have been laid in Umayyad times were destroyed by a “disastrous earthquake” and subsequently replaced during the Abbasid era, drawing on earlier observations by al-Asʿad and Stępniowski (1989:209–10) and Juchniewicz and Żuchowska (2012:70).

Excavations in the Camp of Diocletian, near the Water Gate, documented both an Umayyad pipeline and a later Abbasid replacement. The Abbasid conduit is dated by Barański (1997:9-10), while the earlier Umayyad pipeline is visible running along the Great Colonnade beneath the Umayyad suq. Juchniewicz and Żuchowska report that the Umayyad pipeline was probably replaced after an earthquake, when monumental architraves from the Great Colonnade fell and physically destroyed the earlier water conduits. The direct association between fallen architectural elements and damaged pipelines provides strong archaeological evidence for seismic destruction rather than gradual decay. Independent support for a major seismic event comes from the Basilica area. Gawlikowski (1994:141) notes that although the church was abandoned around 600 CE, its walls collapsed roughly two centuries later, apparently toppled by an earthquake. Taken together, the destruction of Umayyad water infrastructure and the later collapse of monumental architecture suggest a significant earthquake affecting Palmyra around the late eighth or early ninth century CE, providing a plausible context for Abbasid-period rebuilding and repair.