Chinese President Hu Jintao has sent a telegram to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to express his condolences on the casualties caused by an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Tuesday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also telegraphed to Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda to express his condolences, Liu said at a regular press conference.

"We are deeply sympathetic toward the Indonesian people ravaged by the disaster and would like to express our sincere condolences to the victims," Liu said, adding that the Chinese government and the Red Cross Society of China are considering providing emergency relief materials to the victims.

The sub-sea quake, measured over 8.0 on the Richter scale, struck the area some 90 kilometers southeast of the island of Sinabang, off the southern coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island, at midnight Monday.

Casualties are estimated at some 2,000.

Three months ago, a 9.0-magnitude quake hit the Indian Ocean and unleashed tsunami to 11 countries and left 220,000 Indonesian people dead or missing.