The death toll in the powerful earthquake that struck central Japan on New Year’s Day has risen to 30, with authorities warning that figure is expected to continue to climb.

Most of the deaths have been reported on the Noto Peninsula, in Ishikawa Prefecture, after the magnitude-7.6 tremor at 4.10pm on Monday.

Through the night, the emergency services and members of the Japanese military have been battling large fires and going house-to-house in search of people who may have been trapped beneath collapsed buildings, but have been hampered by power outages and damaged infrastructure, including buckled roads or routes blocked by landslides.

Rescue efforts have also been slowed by repeated after-shocks from the earthquake, many of which have been sufficiently powerful to cause additional damage. 

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, there have been more than 130 after-shocks, including four with a magnitude in the upper 5 range.

The majority of the victims were people who were crushed when older, wooden homes collapsed. Seven bodies have also been discovered within the municipal hospital in the town of Wajima, one of the hardest-hit communities.

A seven-storey apartment complex was toppled across a main road in Wajima, a coastal town around 20 miles west of the epicentre of the quake. 

The substantial part of the centre of the town burned to the ground during the night, with police saying at least 200 homes and shops had been destroyed.

Footage taken from helicopters over the town early on Tuesday morning showed smoke still rising from the area and fire crews damping down the smouldering remains of homes. As of Tuesday afternoon, emergency teams are still trying to locate 14 people trapped under rubble in the town.

Television footage has also shown the damage caused by the tsunami that was triggered by the tremor, although it was less powerful than authorities initially feared. 

Wajima and a number of other port communities were hit by a tsunami of around 47 inches on Monday evening, significantly lower than the waves of more than 16 feet that were predicted immediately after the quake.

Nevertheless, harbour buildings and homes close to the coast have been washed away and many fishing vessels and small boats have either been swept inland or sunk.  

More than 50,000 people living in coastal towns were ordered to evacuate inland in the immediate aftermath of the quake. 

The alert level has been downgraded but people are still being told to stay away from the coast as there is a high probability of further aftershocks that could cause new tsunami.

Operators of nuclear power plants along the Sea of Japan coast have been quick to reassure the public that while most reactors are still shut down for safety reviews in the aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake that destroyed the Fukushima nuclear plant, the handful of operational reactors had sustained no damage and there were no reports of abnormalities.

Tokyo Electric Power Co, however, has confirmed that more than 3 gallons of radioactive water spilled from the fuel pools at two reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture, about 90 miles due east of the quake’s epicentre. 

The company – which was only on December 27 granted approval to resume operations at the shut-off plant – said the water had not leaked outside the reactor building and that it was monitoring radiation levels.