Incredible before-and-after images illustrate how 7.6-magnitude earthquake devastated Japan – as race against time to find survivors buried alive for two days continues

Incredible before-and-after images have illustrated how a magnitude 7.6 earthquake devastated parts of Japan on New Year's Day.

The powerful earthquake killed 62 people and trapped more under the rubble. Rescuers are now in a race against time to find survivors who were buried alive.

Satellite images of the earthquake-affected areas, compared with past data, show that the natural disaster has reduced parts of communities to rubble.

Smoke rises from some of the flattened buildings, while deep cracks can be seen running hundreds of meters through the earth.

The Noto Peninsula on the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan was the hardest hit area. In several cities, including Wajima and Suzu, buildings were destroyed by fire and houses were razed to the ground, as shown by the before-and-after satellite images.

Meanwhile, Japanese rescuers and dog units rushed to search through the rubble on Wednesday, ahead of forecast bitter cold and heavy rain.

Ishikawa Prefecture and nearby areas were shaken early Wednesday by a 4.9-magnitude aftershock – one of dozens that followed Monday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake near Noto, about 300 kilometers from Tokyo across the coast.

The earthquake also triggered tsunami warnings, followed by waves of more than a meter high in some places.

The Japanese Prime Minister called the search for survivors a race against time.

The first 72 hours are especially critical for rescue efforts, experts say, because chances of survival drop significantly after that.

'More than forty hours have passed. This is a race against time and I think we are at a critical moment,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters. “We have received reports that many people are still waiting for rescue under collapsed buildings.”

Noto's narrow peninsula has increased difficulties in reaching some communities. In some areas, water, electricity and mobile phone services were still unavailable.

Naomi Gonno says she and her children left their home just as it collapsed.

But her children screamed, “Grandma,” and Gonno saw her mother trapped under the destroyed house, with only her hand visible. She was able to push her way out through a small space, Gonno said.

“I can't believe we're still alive,” she said. 'We live in fear.'

Emergency officials distributed water, blankets, food and other supplies. Search dogs joined soldiers and firefighters in trying to find dozens of people believed to be trapped, although the exact number is unclear.

Weather forecasts warned of heavy rain in Ishikawa, raising concerns about landslides and further damage to half-crumbling houses. The temperature was expected to drop to around 4 degrees Celsius overnight.

According to Ishikawa Prefecture authorities, 29 of the deaths were counted in the city of Wajima, while 22 people died in Suzu.

Eleven deaths were reported in other nearby towns, and three were still awaiting official confirmation in Wajima, meaning the total toll was likely to reach at least 65 people.

Dozens of people have been seriously injured, including in nearby prefectures.

Ishikawa Governor Hiroshi Hase encouraged everyone to use masks, antiseptics and soap to protect against the spread of infectious diseases as evacuees shelter together. Ensuring adequate water supplies and toilets for the displaced is a priority, he said.

Nearly 33,000 people remain in evacuation centers, and some said they were hungry, cold, unable to sleep and scared.

When Monday's earthquake occurred, Yasuo Kobatake ran out of his house wearing only one sock. The shaking knocked him to the ground and a concrete wall collapsed, barely missing him, he said.

He ate only rice balls and a few sips of water in paper cups at the primary school where he and others were housed. They slept on pillows, without blankets. 'It was so cold. “I thought I was going to freeze to death,” he said.

In the aftermath of the earthquakes and tsunami, boats lay overturned in the sea, roads were blocked by mounds of earth, and pillars and walls were scattered throughout flattened houses. A large fire destroyed an entire part of the city of Wajima.

Officials warned that more major earthquakes could follow.

Japan experiences hundreds of earthquakes every year and the vast majority cause no damage, even though strict building codes have been in place for more than forty years.

Earthquakes have hit the Noto region with increasing strength and frequency over the past five years.

The high number of aftershocks is a result of the “complex” fault systems beneath the peninsula, Yoshihiro Ito of Kyoto University's Disaster Prevention Research Institute told AFP news agency.

The country has been ravaged by a massive magnitude 9.0 undersea earthquake in northeastern Japan in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that left about 18,500 people dead or missing.

It also engulfed the Fukushima nuclear power plant, causing one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.

Minor damage was reported at some nuclear power plants along the Sea of ​​Japan coastline after Monday's earthquake and aftershocks, including leaks of water used to cool nuclear fuel and a partial loss of power at one plant.

The plant's operators said there was no risk of damage to the environment or to the nuclear power plants themselves.

Japan is an organized, conformist and relatively crime-free society where warnings are systematically passed on as a public service.

Disaster experts say this will help save lives.