The death toll in the powerful earthquakes that hit the Noto Peninsula and other areas of Ishikawa Prefecture had reached 72 people on Wednesday evening, Paralel.Az reports citing The Japan News

A total area of about 100 hectares in Suzu and Noto in the prefecture was inundated by tsunami triggered by the earthquake, according to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry. The quake registered 7, the highest level on the Japanese intensity scale, in Shika, Ishikawa Prefecture.

Aftershocks have continued in the affected areas, and rain began to fall Tuesday night. The Japan Meteorological Agency is calling for residents to be on alert regarding landslides and other disasters.

Of the 72 deaths, 39 were in Wajima, 22 in Suzu, five in Nanao, two each in Anamizu and Noto, and one each in Hakui and Shika.

According to a tally by The Yomiuri Shimbun, as of 10 a.m. on Wednesday, a total of 372 people had been injured in seven prefectures, including Ishikawa and Toyama. There were 34,297 evacuees in the three prefectures of Ishikawa, Toyama and Niigata, with Ishikawa accounting for 33,446.

Many houses and buildings were damaged, with a total of 186 structures confirmed to be completely or partially collapsed in the three prefectures.

A total of 114,796 households remained without water — 95,359 in Ishikawa, 19,100 in Toyama and 337 in Niigata. In the Ishikawa cities of Wajima and Suzu, the municipal governments and other entities began supplying water on Wednesday.

According to the weather agency, a series of aftershocks occurred in and around the Noto area, with a total of 479 quakes measuring 1 or higher on the Japanese seismic intensity scale observed by 8 a.m. on Wednesday. Among these quakes, a tremor registering upper 5 was recorded in Suzu at about 2:21 a.m. on Wednesday, and Wajima was also hit with a quake with the same intensity at about 10:54 a.m. on the day.

Also Wednesday, the ministry said tsunami had inundated coastal areas totaling about 100 hectares in Suzu and Noto, an area equivalent to 21 Tokyo Domes. The area of inundation may change with future information.

According to the weather agency, rain began to fall in the Hokuriku region on Tuesday night due to a low-pressure system moving along the Sea of Japan side. The agency issued a heavy rain warning for Wajima shortly after 4 a.m. on Wednesday.

The rain has been forecast to intensify in Ishikawa Prefecture from Wednesday evening to Thursday morning. Thunderstorms are expected in some locations.

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The death toll from the earthquakes that continue in central Japan has reached 62, as follows from the data published by the regional authorities.

More than 100 people have been injured. Most of the casualties were in the Ishikawa prefecture - the epicenter of the ongoing earthquakes. Fires have destroyed more than 200 homes. More than 100 buildings collapsed after earth tremors. Rescuers, emergency workers and soldiers continue to remove debris and search for survivors. It has been raining in the affected regions since Wednesday morning.

About 60,000 residents of Ishikawa, Niigata and other Japanese prefectures were evacuated. More than 33,000 homes remain without power supply. In the affected regions Internet and mobile communication is unstable. Water supply is a problem in a number of communities.

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The death toll has risen to 55 in the central Japanese prefecture of Ishikawa as of Tuesday evening, after a series of powerful earthquakes hit the area in central Japan and the vicinity, with aftershocks and more damage reports coming in, Paralel.Az reports.

In a separate tragedy on Tuesday, a Japan Coast Guard (JCG) aircraft taxiing on the runway to transport relief goods for quake-hit areas in Niigata Prefecture collided with a passenger plane at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

Five of the six crew members on board the JCG aircraft were confirmed dead, while the captain who managed to escape earlier was severely injured.

In its latest update, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said a 4.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the Noto Peninsula at 5:13 p.m. local time on Tuesday at a depth of 10 km, measuring upper 5.

As of 11 a.m. local time, a total of 57,360 people evacuated in 955 locations across quake-affected Ishikawa and Niigata prefectures, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told the press on Tuesday.

Local media reports showed that the water supply has been cut in a total of 16 cities and towns in the quake-hit Noto region. Approximately 1,000 Self-Defense Force officers have arrived at the disaster area to carry out rescue operations.

The JMA on Tuesday said the earthquake, which measured the country's maximum seismic intensity of 7, recorded a maximum three-component vector sum peak ground acceleration of 28,266 gals.

The figure is comparable to the 29,334 gals recorded in Kuriyama city, Miyagi prefecture, which also experienced a top-intensity quake during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

It is generally assumed that the greater the acceleration, the larger the shaking and damage, but other factors, such as the duration of the shaking, also play a role, said the JMA.

Injuries are reported in the prefectures of Ishikawa, Niigata, Fukui, Toyama, and Gifu, national broadcaster NHK reported on Tuesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a press briefing on Tuesday that relief efforts are being hampered by obstructions on the roads.

"This is also making it difficult to send heavy machinery. We're thinking about ways to secure routes and using ships could be one option," the prime minister was quoted by NHK as saying.

A series of strong earthquakes, with a major one of preliminary 7.6 magnitude, occurred on Monday at a shallow depth on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture. The JMA has officially named it the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake.

The JMA has lifted all tsunami advisories along the Sea of Japan following the quake, but weather officials warned that strong aftershocks may occur in the week, especially over the next two to three days.

Since Monday, Japan has been hit by at least 155 quakes.