At the deltaic site of Bet Zeyda (aka Beteiha), just north of the Sea of Galilee (aka Lake Kinneret), three-dimensional paleoseismic investigations were conducted by multiple researchers over a number of years using numerous trenches. The studies examined a series of ~E–W-oriented paleo-channels intersected and sinistrally displaced by the ~N–S-trending active Jordan Gorge Fault, producing a detailed chronology of fault activity over roughly the past 2,000 years, based on radiocarbon dating of detrital charcoal. Once outliers are excluded, this material appears to have a residence time of decades rather than centuries (e.g. see Marco et al., 2005:200). Results indicate that seismic events were more frequent and produced greater fault slip during the first millennium CE than in the second, suggesting the region may be approaching another period of heightened seismic activity.

Wechsler et al. (2014:9) identified six earthquakes in paleo-channel 4 (CH4). Wechsler et al. (2018:216) add that channel 4 crossed the fault in an area where a long, linear, and narrow pressure ridge is interpreted to have produced localized uplift east of the main fault, while subsidence to the west caused sediment thickening. Event CH4-E6 was recorded in the basal deposits of channel 4, exposed in Trench T37. Evidence for rupturing included the upward termination of individual faults, folding, and angular unconformities created by these folding events. The presence of growth strata and possibly a colluvial wedge, together with fissures capped by undisturbed layers, support the interpretation of an earthquake at this horizon.

Although Wechsler et al. (2018:Table 3) were unable to estimate offset associated with this event, Wechsler et al. (2014:13) suggested that Event CH4-E6 was stronger than CH4-E5 and CH4-E4.

Wechsler et al. (2018:Table 3) date this event from 392 BCE to 91 CE. Wechsler et al. (2014:14) discussed dating difficulties, noting that the basal deposits of channel 4 in trench T37 lack reliable age control, which limits precise dating of event CH4-E6. Although the Bayesian OxCal model for channels 3 and 4 provides probability distributions for events CH4-E6 through CH4-E1, CH4-E6 remains poorly constrained because no direct dates exist from the faulted basal layer. They report that the only available sample predates the entire channel 4 complex, yielding a broad probability range of ~400 B.C.E. – ~100 C.E. Since the basal deposits are clearly tied to channel 4 and unlikely to be much older than its other basal layers, they suggest that the event is more plausibly placed between the first century B.C.E. and the first century C.E.

Figure 6 - Trench logs for T37 (north and south walls). Event horizons are marked with dashed lines and faults in gray. The inset map and legend are the same as Figure 3 - click on image to open in a new tab - Wechsler at al. (2014)