Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida says the country is facing a ‘battle against time’ to find people affected by a series of major earthquakes that reportedly killed at least 48 people, injured dozens and sparked fires that destroyed homes.

Police and local authorities early on Tuesday reported cases of bodies being pulled from the rubble of collapsed buildings while others remained trapped.

A thousand army personnel were dispatched to the worst-hit area in Japan’s relatively remote Noto peninsula but rescue operations have been hindered by badly damaged and blocked roads

• Race to find people trapped under Japan earthquake rubble as death toll rises