Teens who fled Venezuela after deadly quakes caught in another disaster in Colombia

The 15‑year‑old Deivi Delfín recalls, “The earthquake is haunting me.” He and his 17‑year‑old brother Winder have survived two 7‑earthquakes in Venezuela, losing their mother, grandmother and brother, and still find themselves battling a new tremor after settling in Colombia.

After the 39‑second twin quakes on 24 June ripped apart the 12‑storey building that housed their family in La Guaira, the brothers were forced to pack what remained of their life into a suitcase and move to Cali, where their father works.

Just three days after arriving, a 7.4‑magnitude quake struck Colombia’s northwest. The city, already scarred by the June events, again faced ruptures that killed several hundred people and left many missing.

A haunting echo of loss

In the rubble, Winder’s first glimpse of their mother’s body—a plastic bag of hair dye still covering her head—haunted him. He hovered over her, unable to move the concrete slab that pinned her down. Parallel to this, Moissés, a 10‑year‑old sibling, was found clutching his mother, dust clinging to clothes.

Deivid, who had left to work in Colombia during the tremor, found his sons only after a frantic search led him to the barbershop where Deivi and Winder were hiding.

A cycle of resilience

“I didn’t feel like a child anymore,” Deivi says, describing the shift from carefree teenager to a survivor who must help dig through rubble for missing family members. The brothers’ experience underscores how repeated seismic events can erode psychological resilience.

Now living in a low‑cost neighbourhood on the outskirts of Cali, the Delfín brothers hope for a stable future, but the consecutive shocks remind them that their homeland’s seismic climate remains a constant threat.

Source: BBC Mundo. Image by BBC Mundo.