Jeffro:
Just as another event that overlaps this period (c.760 BCE) -
Jonah, according to 2 Kings 14:25 served during Jeroboam's reign (782/1 - 753). Whether Jonah's service extends more before or after, the Bible doesn't say. What's interesting to me is that this earthquake may give added reason for the Ninevites positive response to his message that he delivered.
The McComiskey commentary on Jonah mentions " 'There was famine in [Assyria in] 765, recurring in, or lasting to, 759 B.C. In 763 there occurred the ominous solar eclipse. All this gave rise to rebellions in various cities until 758 B.C.' (Wiseman, "Jonah's Ninevah," p. 50) As a possible background to Jonah's mission all this information is of great interest."
The events memtioned in the commentary would have primed the Ninevites into thinking the gods were angry or upset. I wonder if the earthquake (or at least the rumble from it) might have also had an effect on the Ninevites?
Secular dating puts Jonah's visit to Ninevah possibly on the heals of these events adding reason to why the Ninevites reacted possitively to Jonah's message.
The Society's dating of Jonah (and also of Jeroboam II) puts Jonah somewhere in the 844-804 timeframe, way before any of the events described above. And thus, the Society's dating has the effect of removing evidence supporting the plausibility of Jonah's preaching campaign.