Australia is sending its first shipment of emergency supplies to disaster-stricken Chile.

Fifty generators, 150 family tents and 1060 collapsible beds are part of the package due to leave Sydney for Chile on Saturday, aid agency AusAID said in a statement on Friday.

The supplies will arrive in the capital Santiago and then be taken to the worst-hit areas around the city of Concepcion to provide temporary housing and power.

An 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit Chile then unleashed a tsunami on Feb. 27. At least two million people have been affected, with 802 people killed and 500,000 homes destroyed.

Australia has offered a team of structural engineers to help with damage assessments on public buildings and infrastructure affected by the earthquake.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2010)