"The Queen was greatly saddened to learn of the terrible earthquake in Taiwan and the consequent tragic loss of life," the statement said.

"Her thoughts and prayers are with the injured and with the families of those who have died."

A British international rescue team is to help search for the remaining 3,000 people still alive under the rubble.

Five men and a woman from the charity Rapid UK were asked to help by the Taiwanese Government and left for Hong Kong on Tuesday night before flying on to the devastated country.

The death toll from Monday's earthquake has risen to 1,800.

Five of the team, including paramedic Sue Shirley, 40, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, helped rescue three people after the Turkish earthquake last month.

The team will link up with a nine-strong group from Rapid-Spain, which is providing six rescue dogs, and six members of newly-formed rescue organisation Rapid-Turkey.

Briton killed

A spokesman for Rapid UK said: "It is only three weeks since five members of the team came back from the tragedy of the earthquake in Turkey and they are off again."

The organisation is a charitable search and rescue team which provides response teams free of charge anywhere in the world.

Two rescue dogs which went with the British team to Turkey are staying behind this time as they have already started six months in quarantine.

A British woman killed in the earthquake which devastated parts of Taiwan has been identified, the Foreign Office has confirmed.

Lynne McGinty, 49, from Liverpool, was teaching English on the island.

The FCO had mistakenly said a man from the UK had died in the disaster when it made an announcement earlier on Wednesday.

But a spokesman said there had been confusion because of difficulties in communicating with the stricken area.

He said she was killed in Taiwan in Chung Xsing village in Nantou province.