Rescuers freed people from collapsed buildings and buried cars in drills across Japan that involved nearly 600,000 yesterday, the anniversary of Tokyo's worst earthquake, a Cabinet official said.

Major drills involving Japan's military, police, coast guard and firefighters were held in the coastal city of Kishiwada, about 400 km west of Tokyo. Helmeted soldiers banged on the doors of mock plywood houses and shouted for survivors, while others scaled buildings and dug civilians out of buried cars.

In Chiba, adjacent to Tokyo, rescuers buzzed through the air in single-seater paragliders and dropped two-way radios to others who signaled for help from the ground.