Minamisoma, Natori, Japan:
Japanese troops have rescued a 60-year-old man who floated out to sea on the roof of his home when a tsunami engulfed Japan's coast following the massive earthquake.
A spokesman for Japan's military said Hiromitsu Shinkawa was pulled from the sea after he was spotted waving a red cloth about 15 kilometers offshore from the quake-ravaged town of Minamisoma.
Shinkawa told his rescuers that the tsunami hit as he and his wife returned home to gather some belongings after the quake. He said his wife was swept away.
The man was in good condition and according to Kyodo news agency, quoting ministry officials, the man was transported to a hospital by helicopter.
In the town of Natori, three elderly earthquake survivors were rescued after being trapped for 20 hours in a car that was swept up in the devastating tsunami.
The group was rescued from a half buried car near a high school in Natori in the hardest hit Miyagi Prefecture.
In video broadcast by Japanese broadcaster NHK, the elderly group was spotted by fellow earthquake survivors from the roof top of the school.
Soldiers were called and the frightened and frail survivors were eventually rescued.
The school has become a haven for earthquake survivors and stands like a beacon amongst the flattened landscape of the city.