Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Monday expressed his heartfelt sorrow over the terrible loss of life in Sunday's earthquake that hit several countries in Asia, saying Pakistan stands with them in the hour of need.

"Pakistan stands with you in this hour of need," Musharraf was quoted by the Associated Press of Pakistan as saying at the end ofhis address to a gathering in Islamabad.

Musharraf extended his deepest sympathy to the affected countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Maldives, Indiaand Sri Lanka, where massive tidal waves in the wake of the earthquake claimed thousands of lives.

The earthquake, recorded off northern Indonesia and measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale, is one of the strongest since 1900 and theseverest in the last 40 years.

Pakistan has already directed its envoys in the region to obtain assessment of the full extent of destruction and damages inorder to determine the kind of assistance that should be generated nationally and internationally, said the official news agency.

Pakistan Navy's contingent offered humanitarian assistance to the Maldivian government, which had requested for evacuation assistance for stranded tourists and locals from the islands and provision of emergency drop of food supplies to the affected areas,according to a military press release issued Monday.

Two Pakistan Navy ships, an auxiliary tanker and a Type-21 destroyer, have been on operational deployment to Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean since early November. They have helicopters embarked on them and are presently in Male, capital of Maldives.

Pakistan Navy in coordination with Maldivian National Security Services launched a humanitarian search and rescue operation on Sunday, using ships and helicopters, and also dropped emergency food supplies to the effected areas which are otherwise inaccessible, said the press release.