The search for any survivors of the massive earthquake that ripped through northern Japan yesterday has continued despite a near-constant hammering of powerful aftershocks.

Although the death and injury toll from the quake was relatively low, the massive tremor and its aftershocks brought a weekend of chaos to much of Iwate prefecture. It has also exposed worrying shortcomings in Japan’s quake early warning-system, which is generally viewed as the most technologically sophisticated in the world.

The Meteorological Agency was only able to offer a few seconds warning of the earthquake – not enough to help those near the epicentre.

The damage included a spill of four litres of radioactive water at one of the two large nuclear power facilities in nearby Fukushima prefecture. None is thought to have leaked outside the facility itself.

A burst of hope came on Sunday afternoon when rescuers probed the rubble of an onsen hot spring inn tucked deep in a valley near the town of Kurihara and buried when a wall of rock and trees crashed onto its roof. The three people dug out of that wreckage, however, have since been reported dead – bringing the toll of the giant tremor to nine.

The 7.2 magnitude earthquake is believed to have left over 200 people injured: mostly by furniture falling on them, or by broken glass. Modern buildings in Kurihara – the nearest to big town to the quake’s epicentre - were largely unscathed.

Some people were badly hurt in a series of car and bus accidents caused by the dangerous “rippling” of roads that occurs during powerful quakes. A bus carrying around 20 passengers was forced off the road and skidded 50 metres down a mountainside, causing serious injuries to four people.

Military and civilian rescue crews have battled more than 250 aftershocks in their efforts to find 12 people who remain unaccounted for. But a bid to find a small group of people who went missing near a dam had to be abandoned as the aftershocks pummeled the already softened mountainsides. Fire crews said that the dam itself may have been cracked by the quake, and the area had to be abandoned.

Dozens of others are believed to be safe but have been stranded by the huge landslides triggered by the initial tremor, which struck at around 8.45am on Saturday when most people were still in their homes. At least one large road bridge collapsed and numerous buildings suffered structural damage.

Large numbers of residents are expected to remain in temporary shelters as their homes are assessed for damage: Japan’s frequent large quakes often leave hundreds of houses plastered with the much-dreaded red official posters, which mean they can never be lived in again.

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