Venezuelan Teens Survive Two Deadly Earthquakes After Migrating to Colombia

Deivi Delfín, 16, and his younger brother Kleiver, have survived two devastating earthquakes, highlighting the precarity faced by those displaced across South America. The siblings initially fled Venezuela after a 2022 earthquake claimed their mother's life in the state of Mérida. Their migration led them to rural Colombia, where they found themselves caught in another deadly seismic event.

The brothers had relocated to a remote mountainous area of Colombia's Cundinamarca department, seeking refuge and work following the Venezuelan disaster. However, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck central Colombia, with its epicentre in the municipality of El Calvario, adjacent to where the Delfíns were residing. The quake caused significant damage, including landslides and structural collapses, and resulted in at least one fatality.

Deivi Delfín recounted the harrowing experience, describing the ground shaking violently and fearing for his life and that of his brother. Both teenagers escaped physical injury, but the psychological toll of enduring a second major earthquake, particularly after their previous loss, remains profound. Their situation underscores the vulnerability of migrant populations who, in their search for stability, often encounter new dangers in unfamiliar territories, far from established support networks.