South Korea plans to provide Ecuador with humanitarian assistance totaling $700,000, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, joining global efforts to support the Latin American country’s search and rescue operations following a massive earthquake.

Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude tremor was the nation’s worst disaster in decades, leaving more than 480 killed and thousands wounded or missing. In all, the quake has affected some 450,000 Ecuadorians, with around 40,000 of them in urgent need of humanitarian aid, the ministry said.

Seoul’s Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se on Monday also sent a consolation letter to his counterpart Guillaume Long, expressing hopes for a swift recovery.

“The government plans to actively join international efforts to respond to a recent series of earthquakes and other natural disasters, as well as the worst refugee crisis since World War II taking place in countries including Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan,” the ministry said in a statement.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)