[5] It seems probable that the second quake, centered more to the north, which created massive damage mainly in northern Israel and Jordan, did so not so much due to its catastrophic magnitude, but rather as a result of buildings being weakened by the previous, more southerly earthquake.

[5] According to historical sources, supported by archaeological findings, Scythopolis (Beit She'an), Tiberias, Capernaum, Hippos (Sussita),[6] Jerash and Pella suffered widespread damage.

Other sources reported a tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea, several days of aftershocks in Damascus, and towns swallowed up in the earth.

Earlier claims that the large Umayyad administrative buildings south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque were so badly damaged that they were abandoned and used as stone quarries and sources of lime, lime kilns being found at the site,[8] are reportedly wrong, the buildings staying in use until the 1033 earthquake.

[5] A different view is that the primary sources describe at least two different seismic events, set apart by up to three years in time and hundreds of kilometers in distance.

He does not give an exact date for the event, but the earthquake narrative immediately follows Theophanes' entry on the birth of Leo IV the Khazar.

Otherwise this is a credible account of the earthquake causing landslides, surface rupture, and sand boils in a semi-arid area.

[5] George Hamartolos (9th century) repeated verbatim Theophanes' account of the 749/750 earthquake, and only commented on the oracle-like mule.

[5] This narrative reports that Damascus was affected by an earthquake in Hijri year 130, which led the inhabitants of the city to abandon it.

[5] The historian Sibt ibn al-Jawzi (13th century) gives a hesitant and possibly confused account of this earthquake.

Ibn Taghribirdi (15th century) reports that multiple strong earthquakes affected Syria in Hijri year 130.

[5] Mukadassi (10th century) reported than an earthquake in the days of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) threw down the sanctuary, with the exception of the part surrounding the mihrab.

[5] The Commemoratium de Casis Dei (c. 808), compiled by agents of Charlemagne, mentions that the Church of Maria Nea was still in ruins following its destruction in an earthquake.

[5] Arab reports of one or two earthquakes appear in two 11th-century compilations of traditional accounts of the Abd el Rahman family of Jerusalem.

[5] One of the traditions preserved by Ibn al-Murajja reports that the first earthquake took place during the Ramadan of Hijri year 130 (in May), during a cold and rainy night.

Muslim literature often associated earthquake narratives with the holy month of Ramadan, so the offered date may have been chosen to make the story seem more reliable.

It reported that there was earthquake damage across Syria (Bilad al-Sham), but places its emphasis on destruction in Jerusalem itself.

In the Palestine region, these chronicles mention that the earthquake damaged Tiberias, Mount Tabor, and Jericho.

They list among other damaged localities Ghautah, Dareiya (Darayya), Bosra, Nawa, Derat, Baalbek, Damascus, and Beit Qoubaye.

It was caused either by a nearby fault, a massive local slide, or by a temporary halt in the flow of the Jordan River.

[5] Beyond these chronicles, Agapius of Mendidj (10th century) mentioned both earthquake-induced flooding and inundation along the Syrian coast and destruction in Tiberias.

He dates the event to having followed Constantine V incursion into Syria and the conquest of Germanikeia (modern Kahramanmaraş) and to have preceded Abu Muslim's leadership in the Abbasid Revolution (in May 747, or the Ramadan of Hijri year 129).

The original version of the chronicle ended with the rise in power of the Prophet Muhammad, but was then expanded to bring it up to date.

[5] Abu'l-Fath wrote his chronicle in 1355, following a discussion he had with a High Priest over the absence of texts on the history of the Samaritans.

The chronicle however contains a chronological error in placing the revolt of Abu Muslim as an event immediately following the earthquake.

[5] The piyyut poem in question is a lament for an earthquake which caused widespread destruction and extensive casualties in Tiberias.

However the fast was supposedly mentioned in passing by Pinneas the Poet, who was considered an "ancient" writer in a text dating to the 10th century.

[5] The Cairo depository source reports that the earthquake affected the Land of Israel, with many cities falling into ruins.

[5] A mint condition coin dated to Hijri year 131 (748/749 Anno Domini) was found underneath seismic ruins in Beit She'an.

Alternatively however, the cities may have been damaged by order of Marwan II who is thought to have demolished fortifications in Jerusalem, Damascus, and Baalbek in a punitive campaign.