Thousands of weary and frightened residents in northern Japan were spending a second night in shelters, cars or in the open on Sunday after Japan's deadliest earthquake in nine years killed at least 21 people.
More than 2,100 were injured when the 6.8 magnitude quake and a series of powerful aftershocks struck rural Niigata prefecture, about 250 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, on Saturday, setting off landslides, wrecking houses and buckling railway tracks.
Repeated aftershocks struck the region well into the night on Sunday, raising concerns of more landslides in the largely mountainous region.
One slide devastated a village, killing at least two people and cutting off about 600 residents for more than 12 hours.
The quake, coming days after a typhoon killed at least 80 people, is the deadliest in Japan since the Kobe earthquake killed more than 6,400 in 1995. In Tokyo, where the government set up a crisis centre, officials were trying to contact remote areas and arrange to transport food, water, blankets, heaters and other necessities.
The quake and aftershocks shook buildings in Tokyo on Saturday but there were no reports of injuries or major damage. Officials have estimated a quake of similar scale in the Tokyo area would kill about 7,000 people.
As darkness fell, nearly 130,000 households in Niigata were without power and many also lacked water, gas or phone service. Some mobile phone services were not working while operators limited use on others to ensure emergency calls got through. More than 250 aftershocks that could be felt by humans had struck since the initial quake, the Meteorological Agency said, and officials warned of more strong tremors.