The United States expects to initially pledge $4 million in aid for victims of the devastating tsunami in Asia and has already released $100,000 to each of India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, an official said today.
"We are talking to the Red Cross about covering $4 million of a more than $6 million appeal they have made for emergency aid," said the State Department official, who asked not to be named.
The United States has also sent emergency relief teams to assess what specific aid it can provide in the wake of the deadly earthquake and tsunami that slammed coasts from India to Indonesia, the official added.
The US Navy dispatched three P-3 Orion long-range maritime surveillance aircraft from Kadena, Japan, to Thailand to take part in damage survey operations, a Navy official at the Pentagon said.