The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) decided Tuesday to offer the Pakistani Red Crescent US$100,000 and the India Red Cross US$50,000, to be sent in a few days.

An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale hit Pakistan at 11:50 AM Saturday (Beijing Time). The epicenter was located about 95 km northeast of Islamabad, capital of Pakistan.

Figures released by the Pakistani government shows that the quake has killed 19,396 people and injured 42,397.

But a senior official said the death toll was up to 30,000 or 40,000, with 60,000 people injured.

President Hu Jintao on Saturday sent a message of sympathy to Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf.

On the same day, Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also extended sympathy and cordial regards to their Pakistani counterparts, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, over the deadly quake.

Wen met in Beijing Monday with envoys from Pakistan, India and Afghanistan and expressed again his heartfelt sympathy and regards to the governments and the people hit by the earthquake.

The Chinese government is providing Pakistan with US$6.2 million of relief assistance and has sent a 49-member international rescue team to the earthquake-hit areas.

China's first batch of relief goods arrived in Islamabad Sunday, and the second batch arrived Monday.

(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2005)