[3] There are various estimated dates for the earthquake, ranging from 8 April 859 to 27 March, 860,[2] although most chroniclers put it in the month of Shawwal, 30 December 859 to 29 January 860.

[3] There are several accounts of this earthquake affecting a very large area, including the cities of Acre (Akka), Adana, Antioch, Baghdad, Balisum, Buka, Harrana, Homs (Emesa), Madatinum, Maresha (Marisa), Rasulaicum, Samandağ, and Uti.

Besides Syria, other reportedly affected areas were Anatolia (Asia Minor), the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, and Palestine.

[3] Part of the Jebel Aqra appears to have collapsed into the sea,[3] although the historian Al-Suyuti (16th century) reported that the earthquake shattered an entire mountain in the vicinity of Antioch.

The remains of the mountain reportedly fell into the Mediterranean Sea, taking with them 1005 houses and 90 villages,[2] although the particular edition of the work in which these facts appear is described as "very confused".