Britain on Saturday sent its condolences to Indonesia over an earthquake which has killed at least 2,700 people on the island of Java.

"I was deeply saddened to learn of the earthquake which struck near Yogyakarta in Central Java early this morning." British Foreign Office Minister Dr Kim Howells said in a statement.

Britain has offered support to the Indonesian Government and was ready to respond to all requests, the minister said.

"A team from the British Embassy in Jakarta has been sent to the scene to check urgently whether any British Nationals are involved. So far we have no reports of any British casualties. We will continue to monitor developments closely." the minister added.

A powerful earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale rocked Indonesia's province of Yogyakarta and several parts of Central Java at 05.53 a.m. local time on Saturday morning (2253 GMT, Friday).

More than 2,700 people were killed and thousands more injured in the earthquake which flattened residential houses and office buildings and destroyed roads and bridges.

Source: Xinhua