China Wednesday offered 5 million yuan (US$0.6 million) worth of material to Morocco as emergency humanitarian aid for the African country's earthquake-shaken areas, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce announced.  

The quake, which struck northern Morocco Tuesday, has killed over 500 people and injured more than 300 others.

The US Geological Survey said the quake measured 6.5 on the Richter scale, but French seismologists put it at 6.3.

It is said that most of the victims were women, children and the elderly because men in the region had gone to European countries such as the Netherlands and Germany for work.

Rescue work was underway but bad traffic conditions made the task harder, according to reports.

(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2004)