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Paris/Washington: The violent quake that shook China's Sichuan province yesterday is linked to a shift of the Tibetan plateau to the north and east, said specialists at the Paris Institute of Earth Physics.
"There will certainly be many aftershocks," said Paul Tapponnier, an expert on tectonics.
The quake, with a magnitude of 7.8, struck close to densely populated areas of Sichuan province and was felt across a swathe of southeast Asia.
US intelligence analysts were, meanwhile, examining spy satellite images of Sichuan even as the death toll was projected to climb over 8,500, a defence official said yesterday.
The official said the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, or NGA, was assessing high-altitude imagery as a routine step taken whenever a natural disaster or other major event occurred anywhere in the world.
US spy satellites and other high-altitude surveillance platforms can produce highly detailed pictures of damage to roads, railways, tunnels, ports and coastlines.
The official declined to comment on what the images of China showed.
Bush sends condolences
NGA is part of the Pentagon and analyses overhead pictures from U2 spy planes and Defence Department satellites.
In recent years, the Bush administration has offered satellite images and analysis to foreign governments coping with natural disaster to help organise rescue and recovery operations.
President George W. Bush sent condolences to the victims of the disaster.
"I am particularly saddened by the number of students and children affected by this tragedy," Bush said in a statement released by the White House.
He said the thoughts and prayers of the American people were with the Chinese people, "especially those directly affected".
At least 900 students were believed trapped under the rubble of a school.
Xinhua news agency reported that thousands of people had been evacuated after two chemical plants sustained serious damage.
The factories are located in Shifeng, about 50 kilometres from Sichuan, Xinhua said, citing an official from the State Administration of Work Safety.
Japan told China it was ready to provide as much relief as possible to victims, the foreign ministry said.
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda made the pledge in a message to Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, expressing his sympathy following the devastating 7.8-magnitude quake, the ministry said in a statement.
Fukuda said his government was "prepared to provide as much assistance as possible (to China) if necessary", the statement said, without elaborating.
Hu has called for "all-out" efforts in rescue work, and the military was dispatched to the worst-hit areas.
Hu wound up a five-day visit to Japan on Saturday, during which the traditional rival nations committed to closer ties amid protests over Beijing's rule in Tibet.
In talks here on Wednesday, Hu and Fukuda agreed to start regular summits to ease decades of tension coloured by Japan's brutal invasion of China, and pledged that Asia's two largest economies would not see each other as a threat.
The Tokyo government is planning to send water, foodstuffs, blankets as well as rescue teams, including medical experts, to China if and when it receives a request for help, the Jiji Press news agency reported.
AP
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