Death toll rises to 35 after powerful Japan earthquake

The death toll from a powerful quake that triggered landslides in northern Japan rose to 35 Saturday, as tens of thousands of rescue workers raked through the mud for survivors.

The majority of the dead are from the small rural town of Atsuma, where a cluster of dwellings were wrecked when a hillside collapsed from the force of the 6.6-magnitude quake, causing deep brown scars in the landscape.

Around five people are still unaccounted for in the town and around 600 sustained minor injuries, according to the local government of the northern Hokkaido island.

Some 40,000 rescue workers, including Self-Defense Forces drafted in specially, were searching for survivors with the aid of bulldozers, sniffer dogs and 75 helicopters, according to the top government spokesman.

"They're doing their best around the clock," Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

All three million households on Hokkaido island lost power when Thursday's quake damaged a thermal plant supplying electricity to the region, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said power was mostly restored.

"Thanks to hard work to boost power supply throughout the night, the number of households without power has declined to 20,000," Abe told a cabinet meeting to discuss the quake.

Abe added the government would release emergency funds to deliver food, water and fuel needed for power generators at hospitals.

A total of 31,000 households still have no water and around 16,000 people have evacuated to shelters.

SS