Friday's catastrophic earthquake in Japan and the following devastating tsunami have ravaged the country, while massive rescue and recovery efforts have been quickly launched to save lives and minimize losses.

"This is the largest earthquake since the Meiji Era (1868-1912), and it is believed that more than 1,000 people have lost their lives," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano Saturday at the headquarters of the crisis center set up by the government in Tokyo to coordinate the response to the disaster.

The massive quake triggered 10-meter high tsunami ripping through towns and cities along the northeast coast regions, sweeping away houses, cars and ships.

Tremendous losses

The magnitude-8.8 offshore quake, hit at 2:46 p.m. local time Friday, and the massive tsunami caused death toll to exceed 620 as of 9 p.m., while a further 200 to 300 unidentified bodies were transferred to Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture.

The prefectural government in Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan said late Saturday that in the town of Minamisanriku, some 9, 500 people still remain unaccounted for.

An explosion occurred at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant earlier in the day triggered public panic, but the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said late Saturday that owner and operator of the nuclear facility, Tokyo Electric Power Co., has confirmed that the steel container housing the reactor is intact.

The devastating earthquake also damaged infrastructures, roads and building across the quake-ravaged regions.

According to the fire agency, the number of partially or completely destroyed buildings has now reached some 3,400.

In port city of Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture, the landscape was virtually submerged, with only a few buildings remaining in the urban area.

In Sendai city in Miyagi Prefecture, flat farmland and a considerable number of buildings near the coast were whisked away that offered no resistance.

A municipal official of the Futaba town in Fukushima Prefecture was quoted by Kyodo as saying that more than 90 percent of the houses in three coastal communities have been washed away.

Many roads in the affected areas are inaccessible, public transportations came to a halt in the hard-hit region, and power and cellphone are still out of service.

Around 5.57 million households had lost power, while more than 1 million households in 18 prefectures had had their water supply cut off.

So far, at least 100 aftershocks have jolted the coastal areas of Japan including over 25 upper-5.0 magnitude tremors, with more expected to follow.

The economic loss of the quake and tsunami and its long-term impact is estimated at exceeding 100 billion U.S. dollars, according to some economists.