Excavations at Galei Kinneret on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee reveal clear archaeoseismic damage affecting Roman, Byzantine, and early Islamic structures at Tiberias. Marco et al. (2003) examined architectural remains that were eventually abandoned in the 8th century CE when rising lake levels or tectonic subsidence led to burial of the area beneath debris-flow sediments. Beneath these sediments the authors identified structural deformation and faulting that they interpret as the result of a strong earthquake. The earliest structure exposed at the site is a Roman stadium described by Josephus Flavius. Two extension fractures, trending approximately 305° and 320°, cut across this structure. According to Marco et al. (2003), the fractures reach widths of up to 10 cm and continue upward through Byzantine and early Islamic walls constructed above the stadium. The fractures extend beyond the stadium itself, suggesting that the deformation occurred after the construction of the Umayyad period walls and affected a broader area of the site. Additional evidence for seismic deformation occurs in the sediments that accumulated above the structures. The authors identified normal synsedimentary faults offsetting the lower part of the sedimentary sequence. These faults typically dip between 60° and 70° and display vertical offsets ranging from about 35–50 cm to approximately 90–100 cm. Smaller north-striking faults with offsets of around 10 cm were also observed. Pebbles and pottery fragments are aligned along the fault planes, indicating imbrication during movement, and layers near the fault footwalls are locally warped downward. The orientation of the faults and the pattern of structural collapse provide further evidence of seismic activity. Ashlar blocks from the upper parts of walls are reported to have fallen predominantly toward the west, consistent with the direction of displacement along the faults. The observed deformation reflects northeast–southwest extension, which is compatible with the regional tectonic setting of the Kinneret basin and the nearby fault scarps west and south of Tiberias. Crucially, the faults postdate Umayyad construction but are sealed by undisturbed sediments and buildings of the Abbasid period. This stratigraphic relationship places the earthquake between the late Umayyad and early Abbasid periods. On this basis, Marco et al. (2003) attribute the observed deformation to the major earthquake of 749 CE. The structural pattern also suggests that the Galei Kinneret area experienced an extensional component during the earthquake. The westward tilting of structures may indicate that the site lay on an antithetic fault dipping westward within a larger listric fault system dipping to the east, similar to the structural setting observed at the Berniki Theater in Tiberias.

Left - Figure 3 - Stadium wall with a Byzantine and Umayyad building above it, looking east - JW: Note extensional fractures in the middle of the image
Right - Figure 11 - Geological fault that shifted strata of the Byzantine period; the upper layers accumulated after the earthquake, looking south - JW: the downdropped block is to the west (towards shore)
Click on either image to open in a new tab - Both images from Hartal (2008)