El Salvador Project

As a result of the large magnitude earthquakes that killed at least 844 people,[1] students from Imperial College London's Civil Engineering Department volunteered to work on a development project from 2002 onwards, to be concentrated in the country's poorest communities over subsequent academic years.

On 17 April 2009 the project competed in the JP Morgan Good Venture Case competition in New York City, where it won $25,000 to fund its activities.

The design of the houses was presented by the Reconstruction and Development Organization of El Salvador (REDES), a national NGO which works closely with the project and oversees the construction process.

In association with the British Geological Survey seismologists from among others the Department of Civil Engineering of Imperial College London predict an increasing risk posed by earthquakes in El Salvador in the near future due to rapid population expansion exacerbated by deforestation.

[4] In reaction to the floods and landslides in November 2009 that left at least 192 people dead,[5] REDES will likely be appointing a specifically badly struck geographical entity for consideration under the 2010 project.