Evidence for earthquake-related damage has been reported at Resafa, although its severity and dating remain uncertain. In the Basilica of St. Sergius (Basilica A), Al Khabour (2016) reports fractures in the apse that may reflect seismic shaking or differential subsidence. More generally, Sack et al. (2010:307) note that between the construction of the church and the city's abandonment in the 13th century, “earthquakes and the building ground weakened by underground dolines have caused considerable damage.” The severity of seismic shaking represented by this damage is disputed. Catharine Hof (personal communication, 2022) suggests that much of the damage may represent the cumulative effects of repeated low-intensity shaking from distant earthquakes, rarely exceeding intensity IV MMI. Hof (2019) also notes that the Great Cistern was maintained into the second quarter of the 8th century CE but soon thereafter fell into disrepair. In contrast, Kázmér et al. (2024:35–36) identify archaeoseismic indicators including dropped keystones, displaced ashlars, and wall failures, which they interpret as evidence for substantially stronger shaking, perhaps reaching intensity IX during at least one earthquake.

Attributing this damage specifically to an 8th-century earthquake is more problematic. Hof (personal communication, 2022) argues that the proposed large mid- or late-8th-century earthquake at Resafa rests on circular reasoning. She traces the interpretation to an early statement by excavation director Johannes Kollwitz (1959) and notes that the Resafa entry in Sbeinati et al. (2005) ultimately derives from Klengel (1985), a photobook that provides no independent seismic evidence. Hof therefore concludes that neither written sources nor securely dated archaeological evidence currently demonstrate an extraordinary or large earthquake at Resafa during the 8th century CE.