And behold, on the very night that alone remained before the work was to begin, a mighty earthquake arose, and not only were the stones of the foundations hurled far and wide, but even almost all the buildings of the whole place were leveled to the ground. The public porticoes also, in which the multitude of Jews who seemed bent upon the work were lodging, were brought down to the ground and crushed all the Jews who were found there. When daylight had come, supposing that they had escaped the disaster, the rest of the multitude ran together to seek out those who had been crushed.