Natural Disaster | World Leaders Offer Sympathy And International Aid To Japan - 同情と日本への国際的な援助

Tens of thousands of Japaneses Self-Defense Forces searched desperately for survivors in earthquake-ravaged northern Japan on Saturday as rescue and relief efforts went into full force, while more than 200,000 Japanese were ferried to relief shelters and millions of homes were left without power and water after the country's most powerful quake ever struck on Friday.

Passengers sleep at a lobby as they wait for their transportation at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, March 12, 2011.  (Photo: REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak)

A woman cries after learning that her mother was successfully rescued from a building following an earthquake and tsunami in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan March 12, 2011.

Evacuees stand around Shinjuku Central Park in Tokyo Japan March 11, 2011. (Photo: REUTERS/KYODO Kyodo)

Stranded people rest at a school which has been converted as a temporary shelter after transportation was suspended after the earthquake hit, in Tokyo March 11, 2011

A man carries an elderly woman on his back after a tsunami and earthquake in Sendai, northeastern Japan March 12, 2011.

Women wait on the street after evacuating a building following an earthquake in Tokyo. Kyodo via Reuters

Patients at a hospital in Mito are evacuated outside the building Friday after a massive earthquake struck. (Asahi Shimbun via Asahi Japan Watch.)

 Many world leaders are expressing shock and sympathy following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and are offering to assist the country as it struggles to recover from the disaster.There are more than 45 countries have offered to help Japan deal with the Friday's disater, the United Nations said. There are some aid offers as follow :

* U.S. President Barack Obama sent condolences to the people of Japan and said the United States would provide any help its close ally needed.

* U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the military was willing to do "anything we are asked to do to help out." The Pentagon positioned at least six Navy ships for earthquake and tsunami relief.

* Some 68 search and rescue teams from 45 countries were on standby, but the United Nations was awaiting a green light from authorities in Japan to deploy, said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters that the world body was ready to help Japan in any way necessary, including humanitarian assistance, and was closely monitoring the aftershocks throughout the day.

* South Korea is initially sending 40 emergency rescue officials who are on standby to fly in by government plane when they get clearance, its foreign ministry said.

* The Russian emergency services agency ERMACOM offered 40 people with three sniffer dogs.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia was "ready to offer Japan all possible aid to cope with the aftermath of this tragedy."

* Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Beijing was ready to provide Japan with necessary assistance to deal with the aftermath of the devastating natural disaster, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

* Thailand will offer 5 million baht ($165,000) aid to Japan and will consider giving more when the extent of the damage is known, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi said.

* Singapore has civil defense forces on standby.

* Poland offered firefighters.

* Switzerland offered rescue teams.

* France said they were ready to offer whatever help was required.

* British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain was in contact with the Japanese government and he has asked the country's ambassador in Tokyo to offer all assistance.