Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Tuesday expressed condolences to all those affected by Monday's catastrophic earthquake in China's Sichuan Province.

"Our hearts go out to the families of the victims and we pray for the speedy recovery of all the survivors," Livni said in a letter to Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

The thoughts of the Israeli people are with China at this difficult time, the letter said.

An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale on Monday had left 9,219 people dead in eight Chinese provinces and municipalities, China's Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a latest release issued at 7:00 AM on Tuesday (2300 GMT Monday).

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2008)