SEOUL : North Korea on Saturday offered 100,000 dollars to China to help victims of the massive quake which has left tens of thousands dead and millions homeless, state media reported.

"The DPRK (North Korean) government offered 100,000 US dollars to the Chinese government to help people in the quake-stricken areas eradicate the aftermath of the disaster and bring their living to normal as early as possible," the official Korean Central News Agency said.

It said the quake had "caused huge human and material losses."

Chinese government officials had estimated that the death toll from Monday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake was above 50,000.

But that looked set to rise as officials in one city near the epicentre, Deyang, sharply lifted their estimate on how many residents died there to 20,000.

China is impoverished North Korea's closest ally.

North Korea earlier Saturday welcomed a US decision to provide it with badly needed food aid, saying the move would help promote "understanding and confidence" between the two nations.

The United States said Friday it would send 500,000 tonnes of emergency food aid to North Korea over the next year under a new deal with Pyongyang, after shipments were suspended in 2006. - AFP/ms

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