Until mmWave 5G becomes the norm, LTE towers aren't as accurate as the GPS data obtained by Google. The difference between 30 meters of accuracy[0] and a few meters with Galileo/GPS[1] could be the difference of a search yielding everyone in one building and finding everyone in the neighboring buildings on the same block.

0: https://www.marketingdive.com/ex/mobilemarketer/cms/news/res...

1: https://www.deingenieur.nl/artikel/after-13-years-galileo-sa...

They can still track the device by IMEI, because the radio connects to the base station. SIM is only necessary to register on a network. You can still call emergency services even without a SIM.