“It has been over 40 hours since the earthquake and there continue to be many reports of people who need rescue,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a news conference on Wednesday morning. “We must keep in mind that this is a race against time and continue to put all our labor into rescue efforts, with life-saving as our top priority.”

After the so-called golden 72 hours following an earthquake, the survival rate drops significantly.

As of 8 a.m. on Wednesday, there had been around 130 requests for the rescue of people buried under collapsed buildings. In Suzu, there were over 72 requests for rescue that had yet to be answered. In Noto, Anamizu and Nanao, an estimated total of over 60 people were isolated and cut off from any aid.

Here are scenes from Day 3 after the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that devastated parts of the scenic Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year's Day.

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Shoichi Kobayashi shows a dinner table, with a lantern light, on which he had his New Year's dinner when an earthquake hit his house in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture.
Shoichi Kobayashi shows a dinner table, with a lantern light, on which he had his New Year's dinner when an earthquake hit his house in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture. | REUTERS

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Workers repair a road near Anamizu, a town in Ishikawa Prefecture.
Workers repair a road near Anamizu, a town in Ishikawa Prefecture. | REUTERS

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Evacuees rest at a shelter in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture
Evacuees rest at a shelter in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture | AFP-JIJI

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A ship washed ashore is pictured in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture
A ship washed ashore is pictured in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture | AFP-JIJI