An earthquake struck the Jordan Rift Valley on December 5, AD 1033 and caused extreme devastation in the Levant region.

Scholars have estimated the moment magnitude to be greater than 7.0 Mw  and evaluated the Modified Mercalli intensity to X (Extreme).

Earlier earthquakes in 31 BC and 363 AD are thought to have been caused by the same segment rupturing.

[5] Paleoseismological studies near Jericho and the Sea of Galilee revealed evidence of surface ruptures.

[3] Evident in the sedimentary layers are also signs of disturbed sediments thought to be caused by the earthquake.

A side of the Temple Mount and the so-called mihrab Daud, located near the Jaffa Gate, collapsed.

The entire southern section of the city walls which enclosed Mount Zion above the Kidron Valley, which were built by Aelia Eudocia (the fifth-century wife of the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II), were abandoned by Fatimid caliph Al-Zahir li-i'zaz Din Allah who established major restoration projects that lasted from 1034 to 1038.

Human remains discovered beneath the rubble of a collapsed arch were possibly caused by the earthquake.

Greek seismologist Nicholas Ambraseys reported that the tsunami caused no damage or casualties, but this is thought to be a confusion with the 1068 earthquake.

[15] The 1033 AD event was the last large earthquake on the Jordan Valley Fault.

Such an event would suggest an earthquake of Mw  7.4, posing a great seismic threat to the region.

[3] In late 2020, researchers at Tel Aviv University said that an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 is expected to occur in the area, resulting in many fatalities.

Reports of the years 2001, 2004 and 2011 found that the Israeli government did not fund any retrofitting works to old construction.