Jeffro - very interesting! You don't miss a trick :-)
However, it felt a little too convenient - wanted to check some things first - so I've been doing some googling, prompted in particular by Bart's questions:
What was the primary dating data the geologists used? And which timeline did they relate it to? I feel confident that bible chrono would not have been considered.
Actually, from what I have picked up from a cursory look around, there are some published criticisms (from bona fide academics) about the possible circularity in dating these ancient Levantine earthquakes. I haven't read these sources properly so I don't want to misrepresent their arguments by giving a poor summary of them, but here are some references you can investigate yourself:
"The largest flaw in most of these assessments [relating to the Amos earthquake] is that they were performed without training in identifying seismological damage and in ignorance of the developments in the relatively new field of archaeoseismology."
- David Danzig, 'A Contextual Investigation of Archaeological and Textual Evidence for a Purported mid-8th Century BCE Levantine Earthquake' (2011), p. 1.
Danzig's article is worth a look, especially where he discusses the 'Archaeological Evidence' on p. 15f. and critiques Yadin's findings.
His conclusion on p. 26:
This paper has investigated the possible biblical and some of the possible archaeological evidence relating to the earthquake in the days of Uzziah mentioned in the Book of Amos. Our conclusions are mixed. Biblical evidence points toward an impactful earthquake. As of yet, the archaeological evidence which has been suggested as indicative of this earthquake by several archaeologists and scholars is largely inconclusive. Further archaeological excavations with this problem in mind, as well as with personnel knowledgeable in archaeoseismological investigation could make significant inroads toward its solution. The biblical evidence is very strong since most scholars recognize the earliest parts of the Book of Amos as belonging to the 8th century B.C.E. Because of that, there is an expectation that corresponding archaeological evidence will be found, but that will not necessarily occur. It is quite possible that no recognizable trace of this earthquake has remained in the archaeological record due to myriad factors. Even if it might exist, the biblical account is so vague regarding the location of actual damages incurred that digs may not be aimed in the correct locations. As such, it remains an open problem.
Also see Rucker and Niemi's article, 'Historical earthquake catalogues and archaeological data: Achieving synthesis without circular reasoning' in the Geological Society of America's book Ancient Earthquakes (2010), p. 97f - note the diagram Figure 1 on p. 98. This one analyzes a 6th century CE quake but still may be useful in outlining some of the problems.
