China asked the United States for satellite images of
quake-stricken Sichuan province to help locate victims and identify
seriously damaged roads and infrastructure, US and Chinese
officials said.
The request, hand-delivered to the State Department by a Chinese
embassy official, seeks high-resolution imagery of the region
surrounding the south-central Chinese city of Chengdu, officials
said.
A State Department spokesman had no immediate comment on how the
United States would respond to the request but officials said it
was expected to receive a high priority.
A US document obtained by Reuters said China has already received
offers of advanced satellite imagery from Japan as well as offers
of radar data from Canada and Italy through the International
Charter on Space and Major Disasters.
The Pentagon espionage unit known as the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, or NGA, has already begun analysing
imagery of the earthquake's aftermath taken from US spy satellites,
according to defence officials.
The Bush administration has offered spy satellite images and
analysis to foreign governments coping with natural disaster in
recent years to help organize rescue and recovery operations.
The State Department would also likely seek imagery for China from
civilian government satellite, such as the US Geological Survey as
well as private-sector satellite companies, especially
before-and-after images of quake-stricken sites, officials
said.
The death toll from China's earthquake could soar to more than
50,000, state media reported on Thursday.
Some 20,000 are confirmed dead after Monday's 7.9 magnitude
quake and 25,000 were buried in areas rescuers have struggled to
reach, battling landslides, buckled roads and collapsed
bridges.
Half the epicentre town of Yingxiu, where corpses are lined along
the river, has been flattened and 90% of the buildings remaining
look unsafe.
US satellite imagery could produce highly detailed pictures of
damage to roads, railways, tunnels, ports and coastlines.
A official at the Chinese embassy in Washington said the data could
also help save lives by locating desperate victims.
