The death toll from a powerful earthquake in central Japan rose to 30 on Tuesday, local authorities said, with 14 others seriously injured.

Half the deaths were recorded in the city of Wajima, where a huge blaze tore through homes, the Ishikawa prefectural government said.

The 7.5-magnitude quake, which hit Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu, triggered tsunami waves more than a metre high, toppled buildings, caused a major fire and tore apart roads.

As daylight broke, the scale of the destruction on the Noto Peninsula emerged with buildings still on fire, houses flattened, fishing boats sunk or washed ashore and highways hit by landslides.

"It was such a powerful jolt," Tsugumasa Mihara, 73, told AFP as he queued with hundreds of others for water in the shellshocked town of Shika.

"What a terrible way to start the year," he said.

Local authorities put the death toll at 30, half of them in Wajima, but the number was expected to rise.

"Very extensive damage has been confirmed, including numerous casualties, building collapses and fires," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said after a disaster response meeting.

"We have to race against time to search for and rescue victims of the disaster."

Aerial news footage showed the terrifying scale of a fire that ripped through Wajima, where a seven-storey commercial also building collapsed.

Almost 33,000 households were without power in the region, which saw temperatures touch freezing overnight, the local energy provider said. Many cities were without running water.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake had a magnitude of 7.5. Japan's meteorological agency measured it at 7.6 and said it was one of more than 150 to shake the region through Tuesday morning.

Several strong jolts were felt early Tuesday, including one measuring 5.6 that prompted national broadcaster NHK to switch to a special programme.

"Please take deep breaths," the presenter said, reminding viewers to check for fires in their kitchens.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning along coastal regions of western Japan.

Images from the country show collapsed buildings, cracks in roads and a fire in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture.

The earthquake on Monday sliced through highways in western Japan collapsed buildings, caused blazes and disrupted communications. As many as 33,000 households may be affected by power outages, said Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa, according to NHK.