Germany will send one million euro (about US$1.4 million) in immediate aid for Haitian earthquake victims, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Germany also has called together a rescue team that will help in rescue work and provide relief to victims.

Germany was trying to find out whether any German nationals had been hurt in the disaster and what could be done to support affected areas, the ministry said.

"Our sympathy and our entire solidarity are there for the victims of the catastrophe and their families," Westerwelle said.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince Tuesday, seriously damaging the presidential palace, hospitals, UN peacekeeping headquarters and thousands of other structures.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2010)