Japan quake toll hits 30 as rescuers race to find survivors

Japan: At least 30 people were killed after a powerful earthquake hit Japan on New Year's Day, with rescue teams on Tuesday struggling to reach isolated areas where buildings had been toppled, roads wrecked and power cut to tens of thousands of homes.

The quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 struck on Monday afternoon, prompting residents in some coastal areas to flee to higher ground as tsunami waves hit Japan's west coast, sweeping some cars and houses into the sea.

Thousands of army personnel, firefighters and police officers from across the country have been dispatched to the worst-hit area in the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture.

"The search and rescue of those impacted by the quake is a battle against time," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said during an emergency disaster meeting on Tuesday.

Kishida said rescuers were finding it very difficult to reach the northern tip of the Noto peninsula due to wrecked roads, and that helicopter surveys had discovered many fires and widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure.

Many rail services and flights into the area have been suspended.

Noto's airport closed due to damage to its runway, terminal and access roads, with 500 people stranded inside vehicles in its parking lot, public broadcaster NHK reported.

In Suzu, a coastal town of just over 5,000 households near the quake's epicentre, there may have been up to 1,000 houses destroyed, according to its mayor Masuhiro Izumiya.

"The situation is catastrophic," he said.

Across Ishikawa prefecture, authorities have confirmed 30 deaths so far, with half of those in Wajima, another hard-hit city in the remote northern tip of the peninsula.

Firefighters have been battling blazes in several cities and trying to free more people trapped in collapsed buildings, Japan's fire and disaster management agency said.

More than 140 tremors have been detected since the quake first hit on Monday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, which warned more strong shocks could hit in the coming days.