The Chinese government sent a 49-member international rescue team Sunday morning to earthquake-hit areas in Pakistan for humanitarian aids, said sources with the China Seismological Bureau (CSB).

The team, headed by CSB deputy director Zhao Heping, was composed of 49 rescuers, medical staffs and seismological experts.

The team brought with them six search dogs, eight tons of search equipment and nine tons of relief materials.

This was the fourth international rescue team that China had sent abroad since 2003.

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 to Islamabad, capital of Pakistan.

The earthquake, believed the strongest ever occurred since the founding of Pakistan, caused destruction of different extents to central and northern parts of Pakistan. The quake has killed at least 18,000 people and injured 40,000 others, Pakistani military spokesman said on Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2005)