Rescuers race against landslides to reach Japan quake victims

Minami-Aso : Rescuers used shovels to dig through mountains of soil Sunday as they raced against the threat of more landslides to reach people still trapped by two big earthquakes in Japan.

At least 41 people are known to have died in the double disaster, with 11 still missing -- feared buried in shattered houses or under torrents of mud.

Heavy rain forecast for the area around Kumamoto did not materialise Sunday, offering qualified relief for officials who cautioned that continued aftershocks might spark further mudslides.

Tens of thousands of people had spent the night in temporary accommodation, or huddled in makeshift shelters as the rescue effort stepped up a gear.

Up to 25,000 personnel fanned out through stricken villages where scores of traditional-style houses were shattered by the quake, or buried in the earth and rock that cascaded down hillsides.

In badly-hit Minami-Aso, dozens of rescuers worked with hand-shovels in a delicate operation to reach at least one person who has not been seen since the 7.0 magnitude quake struck in the small hours of Saturday.

Where four houses had once stood on a ridge, only three remained; the fourth washed away by a tide of earth that swept through the settlement.

Yoko Eto, 38, said her neighbour, whom she identified as Mr. Katashima, had been found dead with his dog, but his wife was missing.

Still visibly shaken, she spoke of her horror as a torrent of muddy water from a nearby reservoir gushed through her home.

"I could hear a rumbling sound soon after the quake. It felt like only a few minutes before the water came rushing through the ground floor," she told AFP.

Eto scrambled to safety with her elderly father, but has been left with nothing.

"I thought I might be able to find some important things, like ID documents," she said as she scoured the ruins of her home. "But I could only find old photo albums."