HELSINKI, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Finland will provide about 500,000euros to China to help the victims in the earthquake area, Finnish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

    The decision was made Friday by Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Vayrynen in response to the emergency appeal by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies due to the massive quake in China, said the statement.

    The money will be used for donating shelters, clean water, food and medicine to the victims affected by the earthquake in China's southwestern Sichuan province, it said.

    A 7.8-magnitude quake rocked Wenchuan county, 159 km northwest of Sichuan province's capital of Chengdu, on Monday. So far, the death toll from the quake has risen to 22,069.