A mammoth relief mission is swinging into action in north-east Japan, a day after it was struck by a devastating tsunami. The disaster was triggered by an 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the country's most powerful since records began. The quake triggered a tsunami up to 10 metres, with waves of 7 metres battering the Japanese coast. A muddy torrent of water swept cars and homes far inland, turning residential areas and paddy fields into a lagoon of debris-filled sea water. One of the worst-hit areas was the port city of Sendai, in Miyagi prefecture, where up to 300 bodies have been found in one ward alone.Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan today visited a quake-stricken nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture and said that small amounts of radiation have released from one of the reactors. At a press conference in Tokyo, Kan said he realised the huge extent of the tsunami damage. The Prime Minister also said that today is a critical day for rescue teams to find survivors. He said the 50,000 rescue personnel deployed to the hardest-hit regions, including Japan's Self Defense Force, will do their utmost to help those in need.On the controlled release of a small amount of radioactive steam from Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in order to reduce mounting pressure that could lead to a meltdown, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the steam is not expected to cause any immediate threat to people's health.Local government acting on orders from Prime Minister instructed about three thousand residents living within a 10 kilometre radius of the No.1 nuclear plant in the region and within a three kilometre radius of the No.2 plant to evacuate. A state of emergency was declared at two reactors at Daiichi and three units at its nearby Fukushima Daini site.Train operators said four trains running in a coastal area of Miyagi and Iwate prefectures remained unaccounted for. It is not known how many people were on board the trains that were running on the Pacific coast when the quake hit northern Japan.Meanwhile, the National Police Agency today said that the number of those who died or are unaccounted for following Friday’s quake hitting had risen to more than 1,000. The agency said that nearly 400 bodies have been recovered in nine prefectures, including Tokyo. It said a total of 805 people are still missing.At least 15 aftershocks, from 5-6.8 magnitude, hit off Japan's east coast today following Friday’s massive quake.Meanwhile, New Delhi has assured Tokyo of all possible help to deal with present disaster caused by Tsunami and Earthquake in Japan. In a letter to his Japanese counterpart, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh expressed full solidarity with the government and people of Japan at this hour of crisis.Dr Singh extended heart felt condolences to Naoto Kan and all those people who have suffered or lost their near and dear ones in the disaster.The External Affairs Minister has also expressed similar sentiments. The ministry is monitoring the situation round the clock. A spokesman of the minsitry said there are no reports of any casualties from Indian community due to earthquake and Tsunami in Japan so far.Twenty five thousand Indians are living in the areas where the Tsunami has struck hard. Indian embassy has set up a control room with phone number 00813-32622391 to 397 to respond to their queries of the people. The embassy in Tokyo and Consulate in Osaka are in touch with the Indian community members and verifying situation on the ground.