Around 30,000 rescuers are searching for people missing after two powerful quakes shook Kyushu island last Thursday and Saturday.

The death toll has risen to 43, with over 3,000 injured. The Japanese government is striving to care for hundreds of thousands of evacuees and accelerate reconstruction effort.

A desperate search. Rescue workers scouring the rubble for survivors, despite the 72-hour post-quake window having closed.

In the village of Minami-Aso, 7 people are still unaccounted for. One woman, lucky enough to have survived the landslide, came back for her neighbour.
 
"I really hope she is alive. If she's there, I hope she's just stuck in some air pocket somewhere. Though the best scenario is that we find she had never returned home and had gone to stay with relatives," she said.

Of more than 500 aftershocks hitting Kyushu since Thursday, more than 70 have been at least a four on Japan's intensity scale, strong enough to rattle buildings.

Some 200,000 people have spent their days and nights in evacuation centers.

Half of them are scattered in Kumamoto alone.

Those who could not get in, have to sleep in their cars, often jolted awake by aftershocks.

"It's hard for people to have to stay in a confined space in shelters for days. They would need some psychological care as well," said Ryota Nasu, university student volunteer.

"In emergency situations like this, the needs change day to day. What is required in immediate days, in weeks and in months’ time? We have to make a long term plan until people can return to their normal life," said Naoki Kokawa, Red Cross in Kumamoto.

The government is facing more challenges, as electricity and traffic have been seriously damaged.
 
Kyushu's Shinkansen bullet train service remains closed due to damage to the tracks. But the good news is Kumamoto airport reopened and five airlines will resume flights to and from there, bringing much needed help for reconstruction.