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The confirmed number of dead from the Japan earthquakes has risen seven to 55.

Aftershocks continue to shake Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas a day after a magnitude 7.6 temblor slammed the area.

Damage is so great that it cannot immediately be assessed. Japanese media reports said tens of thousands of homes were destroyed.

The destruction wreaked by Japan's earthquakes has been captured by Associated Press photographers on the ground.

Among their pictures was a photo of a collapsed road near Noto town in the Noto peninsula.

Cars could be seen falling into cracks that split the tarmac into multiple pieces.

Elsewhere, in the city of Wajima, a firefighter was photographed walking through the rubble of a burnt-out marketplace.

In the same area, a building was pictured having fallen almost entirely on its side.

Another image showed smoke rising above Wajima from the site of a fire caused by the earthquake.

Rescue teams have been struggling in freezing temperatures to reach isolated areas where many people are feared trapped under toppled buildings.

Prime minister Fumio Kishida said 3,000 rescuers were finding fires and widespread damage as they attempted to reach the northern tip of the Noto peninsula.

There were around 120 cases of people awaiting rescue, his government spokesperson said. 

"The government has deployed emergency rescue teams from the Self-Defence Forces, police and fire departments to the area and is doing its utmost to save lives and rescue victims and survivors, but we have received reports that there are still many people waiting to be rescued under collapsed buildings," said the prime minister.

In Suzu, a coastal town of just over 5,000 households near the quake's epicentre, 90% of houses may have been destroyed, according to its mayor, Masuhiro Izumiya. 

By Helen-Ann Smith, Asia correspondent 

In a small suburb just outside the city of Kanazawa the houses sit largely dark and still.

People have evacuated and have chosen not to come back yet.

Just round the corner, you can see why they might have made that decision. 

On the edge of the development a whole section of road has completely collapsed, houses levelled, crushed on top of the cars that once stood beside them.

The authorities are warning of more tremors and quakes to come, there have been over 100 already in just over 24 hours and the neighbours understandably feel that they could be next.

The really frightening thing about this place is it's still 150km from where the epicentre of the largest quake hit, giving  a sense of just how strong and damaging it was.

Yoichiro Hotta, a local resident, tells us when the quake hit he was terrified, his whole room shook, and he sheltered under a table.

"I thought I was going to die," he says, looking sadly at the rubble beside us.

The challenge now for the authorities is accessing those communities stranded closer to where the quake hit.

There has been such extensive damage to roads and airports that reaching these places is hard, and the cold here is biting.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida even said this morning that the obstacles mean rescue efforts might have to be launched by sea.

As we drive north, one of the key highways that links up to the worst affected Noto Peninsular remains shut, but we were able to walk along an empty three lane motorway.

Preparedness was not enough

Japan is remarkably well-prepared for these sorts of events - the infrastructure and warning systems are robust and it's part of the reason the death tolls here are rarely as high as in other places.

But some of the aerial images taken around the epicentre attest to how even that was not enough this time.

Whole streets in the northern cities of Wajima and Suzu are flattened, power lines are down and thousands of homes are without power.

The worst of the panic might be over for now as the vast tsunami warnings were downgraded and then removed, but many tens of thousands were urged to evacuate and many have not yet returned home.

On our journey towards the quake site along Japan's western coast, many of the traditional fishing villages we passed stood eerily silent.

One 90-year-old man who's lived here his whole life said he has never once had to evacuate from his home before as quakes and tsunamis are much more common along Japan's eastern coast.

The death toll will very likely climb as more people are reached. 

This country is not unused to earthquakes and the tsunamis they bring, but there's a sense the scale of this one has shaken even them.

Some more words from locals to bring you now.

Fujiko Ueno, 73, a resident of Nanao city in Ishikawa, said nearly 20 people were in her house for a New Year's celebration when the quake struck.

"It all happened in the blink of an eye" she said.

Miraculously, all in attendance emerged uninjured.

Nobuko Sugimori, 74, said she had never experienced such a quake before.

"I tried to hold the TV set to keep it from toppling over, but I could not even keep myself from swaying violently from side to side," she said from her home.

We've had some words from a resident of Wajima city in the Ishikawa region. 

"I've never experienced a quake that powerful," said Shoichi Kobayashi.

The 71-year-old was at home having a celebratory New Year's meal with his wife and son when the quake struck, sending furniture flying across the dining room. 

"Even the aftershocks made it difficult to stand up straight," he said, adding his family were sleeping in their car because they could not return to their badly damaged home. 

Around 200 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. 

Around 15 of the 48 thought to have been killed are believed to be from Wajima.

Many more have been injured, and rescue efforts are ongoing to pull survivors from the rubble after the collapse of a number of buildings. 

Five of the six crew on board the Coast Guard aircraft at Haneda airport have been killed, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

The plane was involved in a suspected collision at the airport (as we reported in our 9.47am post) and was set to deliver aid to the Niigata area. 

The region, located to the north of the west coast, was hit hard by the earthquake yesterday and the resulting aftershocks. 

It also saw a tsunami of 40 centimeters yesterday afternoon.

Earlier, it was reported the pilot of the aircraft had escaped. 

A reminder you can get all the updates regarding the fire in our dedicated liveblog by clicking here. 

These images show some of the scale of the destruction in the city of Wajima.

Most of the roads leading to it have been left impassable after the earthquake registered an intensity of upper six in the area. 

That led to the collapse of some 25 buildings, 14 of which may have people trapped inside, fire department officials said. 

To add to the destruction, a fire broke out yesterday in Kawai Town in the centre of the city, burning about 200 buildings, and was still raging this morning. 

By Helen-Ann Smith, Asia correspondent 

It is still incredibly difficult to reach the northern Noto Peninsula where the epicentre of the 7.6 quake was and where the worst of the damage is.

Not only are airports in the area running major delays or have closed completely, but some link roads are also damaged and shut to vehicles.

A major highway that runs up the western coast of Ishikawa province was largely closed, and vehicles redirected - we were able to walk straight down the middle of it.

At the closed junction we met Masamichi Yoshitsunaki, an aid worker who has worked in disaster relief for 20 years. 

His truck is full of food, water and warm clothes to support those who are displaced and evacuated.

He says he is deeply worried about the people affected, it is bitterly cold and many have lost everything .

"They are asking 'why us?'," he said. 

He reminds us that while Japan is not unused to earthquakes, this one has hit hard.