Haynes et al. (2006) examined paleoseismic and archeoseismic evidence related to damage to a late Byzantine—Early Umayyad birkeh (water reservoir) and aqueduct at Qasr Tilah and concluded that left lateral slip generated by several earthquakes cut through a corner of the reservoir and aqueduct creating displacement of the structures. They identified 4 seismic events which produced coseismic slip on the Wadi Arava fault and led to a lateral displacement of 2.2. +/- 0.5 m at the northwest corner of the reservoir (aka birkeh) and 1.6 +/- 0.4 m of the aqueduct.

Trench Log and Stratigraphic Section

Discussion

Haynes et al. (2006) constrained the dating of this event as follows:

The fault strand that moved during the most recent event (MRE) terminates 2-4 cm below the surface and juxtaposes unit j and younger stratigraphic layers (Figure 5). This fault strand is capped by unit a, the modern ground surface. A definite date cannot be assigned to this event because any stratigraphic units that may have originally buried unit j were eroded prior to the deposition of unit a. However, an Ottoman period musket ball near the base of unit a establishes the minimum date for the MRE is pre-1918, the end of Ottoman occupation of the region. The maximum age for the MRE is 1515, the beginning of Ottoman occupation, based on the truncation of layer b, which, by virtue of the musket ball in unit a, is older than 1515-1918.

Trench Log and Stratigraphic Section

Discussion

Haynes et al. (2006) constrained the dating of this event as follows:

The penultimate event (II) offsets units e, f, and g and the underlying layers.

... The fault terminates at the top of unit e, which indicates that unit e was the ground surface at the time of the earthquake. Unit e is capped by the undeformed unit d, which, due to its radiocarbon date of 986-1155 A.D. (Figure 5), limits the minimum date for event II to the twelfth century. The maximum date for event II is post seventh century abandonment of the site in underlying layers.

... Event II could not have occurred in 1458, 1293, or 1212. The tenth to twelfth century date of unit d, suggests that the minimum age of Event II is tenth century.

Trench Log and Stratigraphic Section

Discussion

Haynes et al. (2006) constrained the dating of this event as follows:

The antepenultimate event (III) is marked by the rupture trace being buried by unit e. Units f, g, h, and k are offset. Fault terminations at the top of units f and g suggest that this was the ground surface at the time of event III, and therefore, it also occurred after the seventh century. The minimum date for event III cannot be earlier than the basal age of unit d (986­-1155 A.D.).

... Unit e caps buries the fault strands that define Event III. The overlying unit d has a radiocarbon-constrained age range between the tenth to twelfth century, and the underlying units f, g, and h contain aqueduct rubble and potsherds from the seventh century. Therefore, the age of unit e is constrained to seventh to twelfth century.

Trench Log and Stratigraphic Section

Discussion

The first seismic event was dated to the 7th century. Haynes at al (2006) suggested it was caused by either the Sword in the Sky Quake (633/634 CE) or the Jordan Valley Quake of 659/660 AD - favoring the Jordan Valley Quake. There was a repair after this 7th century destruction indicating that the site was occupied when the earthquake struck. Because of the repair, it is unclear how much lateral slip was produced (or even if there was lateral slip ?). At some point the site was abandoned. Haynes et al (2006) noted that archeological evidence at the site indicates that it was abandoned and was not occupied past the Early Umayyad Period (661-700 CE). They also noted that

MacDonald (1992) [] collected some Byzantine and Umayyad surface potsherds at the site and documented ruins of Byzantine houses (village) along the fan surface of Wadi Tilah.

If the repair fixed a problem caused by lateral slip rather than generalized destructive shaking, the slip would indicate that part of the Araba fault broke during this event.

Source - Wells and Coppersmith (1994)

Variable	Input	Units	Notes
Average Displacement		cm.	Strike-Slip displacement
Maximum Displacement		cm.	Strike-Slip displacement
Variable	Output - not considering a Site Effect	Units	Notes
MW		unitless	Moment Magnitude for Avg. Displacement
MW		unitless	Moment Magnitude for Max. Displacement

Calculate   

Haynes, J., et al. (2006). "Evidence for ground-rupturing earthquakes on the Northern Wadi Araba fault at the archaeological site of Qasr Tilah, Dead Sea Transform fault system, Jordan." Journal of Seismology 10(4): 415-430.