UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon will travel to earthquake-hit Chile on Thursday evening to show his "solidarity" with the Chilean people, his spokesperson said.

"The secretary-general will travel to Chile this evening. He wants to express solidarity and sympathy with the people and government of Chile following the 27 February earthquake and to assess the humanitarian assistance effort and the scale of the disaster for himself," Farhan Haq told reporters.

Ban is expected to meet on Friday with President Michele Bachelet and President-elect Sebastian Pinera, as well as senior government officials in charge of national disaster and emergency humanitarian assistance, and reiterate that the United Nations system, through its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is committed to assisting the Chilean government and people with any assistance required, both immediate and long-term.

During his visit, he is also expected to visit the city of Concepcion, one of the cities most affected by the earthquake, and to meet with staff at the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and other UN agencies and programs which have a presence in Chile.

The death toll from Saturday's 8.8-magnitude earthquake has risen over 800, Chilean authorities said Wednesday.