on 12 june 1773 capitain general martín de mayorga was inaugurated, and alongside cortés y larráz and the regular clergy vicars, were the top authorities in the kingdom of guatemala and would be the main characters in the events that followed the 1773 earthquakes. in may 1773 soft tremors began to be felt, but gradually they were increasing in intensity and on 11 june 1773 an earthquake damaged several houses and buildings; after that soft tremors continued, but on 29 july 1773, day of santa marta de bethania, a catastrophic earthquake occurred. large damages occurred across the city, but not all of it was completely destroyed. in spite of that, captain general martín de mayorga asked the king of spain for permission to move the city to a new location on 21 july 1775. permission was granted on 2 january 1776, and the new location chosen is where the modern guatemala city sits, by then led by captain general matías de gálvez y gallardo. on the other hand, cortés y larraz opposed the move, as he realized that it would represent a loss of both power and revenue for his archdiocese; besides the convents and temples needed to be built again, and he did not have enough money to support that.