At least thirty people died as a series of earthquakes struck central Japan on New Year's Day, damaging homes and sparking a major fire. The scale of the damage from the 155 quakes was still emerging, with news footage showing toppled buildings, sunken boats at a port, countless charred homes, and locals without power in freezing overnight temperatures.
Footage shared on social media showed road signs and display boards at railway stations shaking after one of the earthquakes, which had a magnitude of 7.6.
Japan has dropped its highest-level tsunami alert, but is telling residents of coastal areas not to return to their homes as deadly waves could still come.
Thousands of army personnel, firefighters and police officers from across the country have been dispatched to the worst-hit area in the relatively remote Noto peninsula.
However, rescue efforts have been hindered by badly damaged and blocked roads and one of the area's airports has been forced to close due to runway cracks.
