In the aftermath of the powerful earthquake that struck Japan's Ishikawa prefecture on 1 January, rescuers on Wednesday continued to search for survivors. So far, 62 deaths have been recorded, with over 300 injured.

 As heavy rain loomed, the authorities issue warnings of potential landslides, adding to the already harrowing situation caused by the 7.6-magnitude tremor. The quake's impact reverberated, unleashing towering tsunami waves, igniting a ferocious fire, and shattering the very earth beneath, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

The Noto Peninsula on the Sea of Japan coast was most severely hit, with buildings ravaged by fire and houses flattened in several towns, including Wajima and Suzu, as shown by before-and-after satellite images.

The regional government said more than 300 were injured, 20 of them seriously.

The toll was expected to climb as rescuers battle aftershocks and poor weather to comb through rubble.

More than 31,800 people were in shelters, and at least 200 buildings had collapsed, with the number expected to rise, the government said.

"More than 40 hours have passed since the disaster. We have received a lot of information about people needing rescue, and people are waiting for help," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday after an emergency task force meeting.

He added that the number of military personnel sent to the area on rescue missions has been doubled, with more rescue dogs also deployed.

The operation was given extra urgency as the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a heavy rain warning in the region, advising people to be on alert for landslides until Wednesday evening.

There were "almost no houses standing" in one town in the Suzu area, said Municipal Mayor Masuhiro Izumiya.

"About 90 percent of the houses are completely or almost completely destroyed… the situation is really catastrophic," he said, according to broadcaster TBS.

The local utility said that around 32,800 households were still without power in Ishikawa prefecture. Many cities were without running water.

Two planes collide

Meanwhile, Japanese investigators on Wednesday probed a catastrophic collision at Tokyo's Haneda Airport between a coast guard plane and Japan Airlines jet, with conflicting reports about what instructions air traffic control gave.

All but one of the six people on the coast guard aircraft died, but all 379 passengers and crew escaped to safety down emergency slides minutes before the Japan Airlines Airbus was engulfed in flames late Tuesday.

The blackened husk of the airliner, still sitting on the tarmac Wednesday, bore witness to just how narrow their escape had been. Several hundred meters away lay the remains of the coast guard's DHC-8 aircraft.

The captain of the coast guard plane — which had been bound for the New Year's Day earthquake zone in central Japan — was its lone survivor but he suffered severe injuries.

Footage on Tuesday showed a ball of fire erupting and thick black smoke billowing from underneath the airliner shortly after it landed and came to a halt on its nose after its front landing gear failed.