Frank Herbert"s DUNE

[Enola_Straight]

In the DUNE universe, what happened to Earth?
Destroyed during the Butlerian Jihad?

[Jerevan_Somerville]

I don’t think we’re ever told. I recently finished reading Dune: House Atreides and Dune: House Harkonnen, have yet to get the Dune: House Corrino. The fate of Earth is not mentioned, though a few details about specific incidents during the Butlerian Jihad do come out.

[toadspittle]

My impression was always that it had been nuked to pieces ages and ages before the Butlers.

[toadspittle]

Not canonical, I think, but here you go:

http://www.fremen.org/museum/docs/time_line.html

14255 BG [1945 AD] / First atomics demonstrated in an intraprovincial war. Seat of Empire moved to Washington.
14100-13600 / THE LITTLE DIASPORA: The solar system colonized, and the population of Terra is eventually outnumbered by 20 to 1.
13402 [2798 AD] / Ceres gains the Imperial Seat after a planetoid strikes Terra.
13402-13399 THE RESCUE OF THE TREASURES from Terra.
13360 [2840 AD] / Terra re-seeded and set aside (by Imperial edict) as a national park.

2800 AG [19000 AD] / Elrood V gives Poritrin, third planet of Epsilon Alangue, to House Maros. Siridar Charles Baron Mikarrol, planetary governor of Terra, sends two million ZENSUNNI to Poritrin, beginning the Zensunni Migratrion.

That’s the last mention of Terra/Earth at all. So it’s still up in the air. But what we know from this timeline (from the Dune Encyclopedia) is that earth was hit by a planetoid, presumably decimating the ecosystem/population, the surviving treasures were removed, and the planet was then rehabilitated and left undeveloped under Imperial edict.