▲ Scene of earthquake damage in Colombia
Teenage brothers who left their hometown following the massive earthquake in Venezuela last June have suffered through another strong earthquake in Colombia, their new home.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on the story of the Venezuelan brothers, Dayvi and Winder Delfin, on the 10th, local time.
The Delfin brothers survived the successive 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that struck Venezuela last June, but they lost their grandmother, mother, and younger brother.
The brothers had to search for their family members' bodies at the disaster site for 26 days.
Afterward, the brothers moved to Cali in western Colombia, where their father, a barber, works.
However, when a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Cali on the morning of the 10th, local time, the brothers found themselves once again in the middle of earthquake damage.
Terrified as their house shook violently, the brothers ran outside.
Their father, who was not at home at the time of the earthquake, reunited with his sons later and said, "I started crying, thinking about what the children and I went through. I hope nothing happens to the kids."
However, the father and sons had to stay outside until the afternoon, unable to go back into the house.
Delfin said, "We are too scared to go inside the house," adding, "But we are okay. We are alive."
Immediately following the earthquake, the Colombian government declared a national state of emergency and is pouring all its efforts into rescue and search operations.
Reuters reported that the death toll from the earthquake identified so far stands at 132, with 570 injured.
As rescue operations are still underway, the death toll is expected to rise further.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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