The shock occurred within several hundred kilometers of a plate boundary in a geologically complex region that includes active volcanoes and seafloor spreading ridges.

The southwestern portion of the Arabian plate lies adjacent to the Afar triple junction (an area of spreading ridges) near the Red Sea.

Earthquake activity is normally focused at the undersea ridges, but infrequent small to moderate events occur on land in the interior of the Arabian plate within 200–300 km (120–190 mi) of the centerline of the Red Sea in Yemen, as well as farther to the northwest in the 'Asir Region of Saudi Arabia.

[6] Because the shock occurred 200 kilometers (120 mi) from the Red Sea Rift, it was described by Langer et al. as a "plate marginal", rather than an intraplate event.

The primary event and its aftershocks created a zone of destruction between Ma'bar and Dhamar, where older villages were heavily damaged, with adobe or rubble masonry homes suffering the most.

Homes and villages that were adjacent to steep slopes or cliffs were susceptible to rockfalls and landslides, but damage was much less pronounced away from the epicentral area, and modern city centers with properly engineered structures were only slightly affected.

[3] Beginning sixteen days after the mainshock a portable seismograph network consisting of mostly analog units was deployed in the epicentral area.

Saudi's defence minister, Sultan bin Abdulaziz, said 36 aircraft flew to Yemen, carrying aid such as medicine and a field hospital.

[13] Other nations including Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, West Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands also offered aid.