Chengdu, China - Indonesian Ambassador to China Sudrajat on behalf of the Indonesian government and people  expressed  deep condolences to Sichuan province's administration  over the powerful earthquake that occurred in the region recently  killing  thousands of people.

Sudradjat conveyed the sentiment in the message he wrote in a condolence book at  Sichuan province's foreign affairs  office in Chengdu, the Sichuan region's capital, on Saturday.

On arrival at the office, the ambassador was welcomed by Huang Yaouming, the office's vice director, and a number of other Chinese officials.

The 7.8 earthquake which rocked western China, including Sichuan province, almost two weeks ago killed  thousands of people.

In his message, Sudrajat expressed deep condolences on behalf of the Indonesian government and people  over the natural disaster  which had devastated Sichuan province.

Sudrajat came to  Chengdu officially to hand over Indonesian humanitarian assistance for the quake victims consisting of US$1.5 million worth of  food, medicines and tents.

Delivered in  Chengdu by an Indonesian Air Force Hercules cargo plane on Saturday, the aid was made up of  three tons of tents, three tons of medicines and one ton of food.

Earlier, on Friday, a civilian B-727 cargo plane also  arrived in Chengdu with  tents, medicines and food from Indonesia.

China is located in one of the most active seismic regions of the world.

Three earthquakes in  China stand out as some of the most severe in history. The first, in 1556, has been recorded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history in terms of lives lost.

This earthquake took place in  Shensi province. With a magnitude of 8.0-8.3 on the Richter scale, the quake killed a total of 830,000 people. The second severe quake took place in February of 1975 in Haicheng. The quake was registered at 7.3 on the Richter scale. A third occurred in Tangshan, Northern China, in July of 1976.

- Source : Antara News Agency, 25 May 2008