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The "2nd Eartrhquake" at el-Lejjun appears to have struck between about 450 and 530 CE and produced collapsed walls, arches, and roofs. The earthquake likely struck before the legion was demobilized around 530 CE, a date suggested by Procopius and cited by Parker (2006:121). Parker observed that the latest closely dateable Byzantine coins [in overlying Stratum III] are issues of Justinian I dated 534–565. Thus, the terminus ante quem for this event is ~530 CE. Parker (2006:120) established a terminus post quem of ~450 CE by dating the underlying Stratum IV to the 5th century CE, recovering a few early 5th-century coins, with none dating between 450 and 491 CE. Parker (2006:120) noted a relative scarcity of 5th-century coinage, describing this as a regional phenomenon.

By Jefferson Williams