alternatehistory.com

In 9 January 869 Constantinople was hit by a massive earthquake followed by 40 days of aftershocks.
The earthquake caused the collapse of the Church of Virgin Mary in Sigma district (adjacent to the Palace) while Emperor Basil I and the whole Imperial family was inside... However the Varangian Guards managed to evacuate the Emperor and his family to safety before the building's collapse (everyone else in the Church were killed almost instantly).

WI the Guards werent quick enough and Basil I along with his family were perished during the earthquake? Who would get the throne?
Would Arabs and Bulgars took advantage from the power vacuum (and potential civil war/anarchy/interregnum) to attack the Empire?
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