Photo/Illutration Police officers search for victims Jan. 7 in an area of Wajima city gutted by fire in the Noto Peninsula earthquake. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

WAJIMA, Ishikawa Prefecture--Rescue teams worked through snow to deliver supplies to isolated hamlets, six days after a powerful earthquake hit western Japan, killing at least 126 people. Heavy snowfall expected in Ishikawa Prefecture later on Jan. 7 and through the night added to the urgency.

Authorities said 222 people were still unaccounted for, and 560 people were injured. The Noto Peninsula has been rattled by hundreds of aftershocks.

Taiyo Matsushita walked three hours through mud to reach a supermarket in Wajima city to buy food and other supplies for his family. The home where he lives with his wife and four children, and about 20 nearby homes, are among the more than a dozen communities cut off by landslides.

Power was out, and in a matter of hours, they couldn’t even use their cellphones.

“We want everyone to know help isn’t coming to some places,” Matsushita said. “We feel such an attachment to this community. But when I think about my children, it’s hard to imagine we can keep living here."

Ishikawa officials say 1,370 homes were completely or partially destroyed. Many of the houses in that western coastal region of the main island are aging and wooden. Cars lay tossed on cracked, bumpy roads. Snow blanketed the debris and highways. Wires dangled from lopsided poles.

The more than 30,000 people who evacuated to schools, auditoriums and community facilities slept on cold floors. 

Some people were living out of their cars, and long lines formed at gas stations. Food and water supplies were short. Worries grew about snow and rainfall, which raise the risk of mudslides and further damage, as snow collecting on roofs can flatten barely standing homes.

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