In pictures: Japan quake

A road torn apart near Aratozawa Dam in Kurihara.

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake has struck the north of Japan's main island.

A large part of a 95-m bridge is collapsed following a powerful earthquake at Ichinoseki

Extensive damage has been reported - roads and bridges bearing the brunt.

A landslide occurs behind Uguisuzawa Technical High School in Kurihara.

Landslides followed the tremors across Akita prefecture - the epicentre of the quake.

Members of defence forces walk on the landslide near a road in Kurihara.

Members of the country's defence forces were quick on the scene in a country so prone to earthquakes.

A child stands by a damaged house in Kurikoma.

This child looked baffled outside his damaged house.

Rescuers conduct a search of still missing people at a collapsed hot spa building at Kurihara

Elsewhere, rescuers began looking inside damaged buildings.

Graves stones are damaged following the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Kurikoma.

In Kurikoma, gravestones were damaged.

A bullet train is stopped on the tracks just near Sendai station, seen in rear, in Sendai, northern Japan

High-speed bullet trains in the area were automatically stopped.