Japan has been rocked by a series of powerful earthquakes, bringing down buildings and sparking tsunami warnings.
The death toll continues to rise with fears many people are trapped.
A woman looks at the burnt remains of a marketplace following the earthquakes.
Officials say rescuers are desperately searching through rubble ahead of predicted bitter cold and heavy rain in what the prime minister called a race against time after powerful earthquakes killed at least 73 people in the country's west.
A man cries as a body of his family member was found in a collapsed house.
Fifteen people were listed as officially missing and possibly trapped under collapsed buildings.
Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas were shaken by more aftershocks on Wednesday, adding to the dozens that followed Monday's magnitude 7.6 tremor near Noto, about 300 kilometres from Tokyo on the opposite coast.
A stark landscape of buildings burnt to the ground after fires that followed the earthquakes.
Evacuees rest at a temporary evacuation center in Suzu, with many left homeless.
Nearly 33,000 people are staying at evacuation centres, and some said they were hungry and cold, unable to sleep and afraid.
Japanese Self Defence Force members carry an injured person out of a collapsed house.
The first 72 hours are especially critical for teams of rescuers and canine units searching for survivors, experts say, because the prospects for survival greatly diminish after that.
"More than 40 hours have passed. This is a race against time, and I feel that we are at a critical moment," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.
"We have received reports many people are still waiting for rescue under collapsed buildings."
Japanese Self Defence Force members inspect a collapsed house, with the car still parked in the driveway.
Many buildings along a main street have collapsed.
The narrow Noto Peninsula has added to the challenges in reaching some communities, officials say.
Water, power and phone services were still down in some areas.
A firefighter walks through the rubble and wreckage of a burnt marketplace, as dust and smoke rises into the air.
SOS letters formed by folding chairs are seen at a schoolyard.
Relief officials have handed out water, blankets, food and other supplies.
Search dogs joined military personnel and firefighters trying to find missing people, although the exact number is unclear.
Destroyed houses along the coast in Suzu, Ishikawa prefecture.
Of the deaths, 39 were counted in Wajima city, while 23 people died in Suzu, according to Ishikawa prefectural authorities.
The other deaths were reported in five neighbouring towns.
More than 300 people have been injured, at least 25 of them seriously.
The scale of destruction is clear in Wajima.
Japan is prone to earthquakes, with many fault lines and volcanoes.
A massive quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in 2011 caused widespread damage in north-eastern Japan.
No major problems were reported at nuclear plants after Monday's quake. The Shika nuclear plant in Ishikawa suffered a partial electricity failure, but backup power kicked in, ensuring the critical cooling process continued.
A magnitude 7.6 quake was the strongest in a series of shocks on New Year's Day, which caused damage to roads and buildings.
The tremor sparked tsunami warnings for the west coast of the country's main island and coastal residents were told to evacuate.
Drivers wait beside a huge crater ripped out of the road by the earthquake.
Aftershocks continued to shake Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas a day after a magnitude 7.6 tremor slammed the area.
A car teeters on the edge of another road wrecked by the earthquake.
A house which was upended by the quake.
The damage to homes was so great that it could not immediately be assessed, authorities said.
"Saving lives is our priority and we are fighting a battle against time," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.
"It is critical that people trapped in homes get rescued immediately."
A burnt car and debris after a fire following an earthquake, which hit the nations' north west, around six and a half hours drive from Tokyo.
Firefighters were able to bring a fire under control in Wajima city which had reddened the sky with embers and smoke.
Nuclear regulators said several nuclear plants in the region were operating normally.
A woman in a mask walks in front of collapsed houses.
Japan's military dispatched 1000 soldiers to the disaster zones to join rescue efforts, Kishida said, stressing they were facing "large-scale damage".
A multi-storey building lays on its side after the earthquake.
Meanwhile some Australian tourists in Myoko for a ski trip felt their hotel shake as the 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck.
The pair along with about 30 other Australians skiing in Akakura Onsen, 150km from the epicentre of the quake, said Japan's infrastructure was mostly prepared for the tremors.
A road bridge is sheared into sections after the disaster.
Locals have been told to stay away from their homes because of a risk of more strong quakes.
Houses toppled by the quake.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a major tsunami warning for Ishikawa and lower-level tsunami warnings or advisories for the rest of the western coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, as well as for the northern island of Hokkaido.
The warning was downgraded several hours later, and all tsunami warnings were lifted.
Waves measuring more than one metre hit some places.