TOKYO, Oct. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- The death toll from a series of deadly earthquakes in north Japan's Niigata Prefecture

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rose to 27 Tuesday and survivors, including more than 100,000 evacuees, saw no quick end to their trauma as aftershocks continued and rain and cold weather set in.

    The rain prompted worries of more landslides and illness, while water and gas supplies remained cut off in many parts of the prefecture along the Sea of Japan.

    The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of downpours and possible flooding and landslides. The weather agency drastically cut its standards in terms of anticipated rainfall for issuing flood and landslide warnings to take into account the continued tremors in the region.

    The three big quakes that struck Saturday destroyed homes, buildings and roads. Besides the 27 people dead as of Tuesday, three are missing and more than 2,100 injured.

    According to Niigata prefectural government, 103,172 people have taken refuge at 497 evacuation shelters in 34 municipalities.

    Two relatively big aftershocks hit the area early Tuesday, one of them at around 3:32 a.m. (1832 GMT) with a preliminary magnitude of 4.1 on the Richter scale and registering 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

    The other, which occurred at 1:45 a.m. (1645 GMT), had a magnitude of 3.5 and an intensity of 3 in Nagaoka, the agency said.

    Power that had been cut off in some 270,000 households since Saturday evening was steadily being restored. But power supply hasstill been cut in some 34,000 households mainly in the cities of Nagaoka and Ojiya, according to NHK's news channel.

    About 108,000 households remain without running water and some 56,000 without gas, NHK reported.

    The weather agency said the temperature in quake-hit central Niigata Prefecture is likely to drop in the coming days, with snow possible in mountainous areas.

    Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi arrived in Niigata Prefecture Tuesday afternoon to visit the cities of Ojiya and Nagaoka to check the extent of the quake damage and encourage survivors. Enditem