 The excavations, led by Aren Maeir, helped to establish the dating of this geological event,
"Based on the tight stratigraphic context, this [earthquake] can be dated to the mid-8th cent.BCE"...
Other major finds include evidence of the destruction of Gath by Hazael, king of Aram-Damascus around 830 BCE, and evidence of the first Philistine settlement in Canaan.A very impressive, site-wide destruction is evidenced at the site during the late Iron Age IIA (c. late 9th century BCE).