The shaking of the earth is not described as though it were a miracle as was the vision of the fire around Nephi and Lehi. Assuming a Mesoamerican setting, this was perhaps an earthquake related to the eruption of a nearby volcano. That region is part of a geological region known as the Ring of Fire, a string of active volcanoes. There are several volcanoes in that region.
Being overcome with a cloud of darkness might have been the result of the walls falling down, or of the ejecta from the volcano. In any case, this verse is the start of several more that give a preview of the greater destruction to come prior to Christ’s arrival in the New World.