A temple is ruined by an earthquake in Ishikawa of Japan on March 25, 2007. (Xinhua/Kyodo Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    WAJIMA, Japan, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Frequent aftershocks continued to jolt central Japan on Monday, where a major earthquake on Sunday morning killed one and injured 196 in prefectures of Ishikawa, Toyama and Niigata.

    Aftershocks were registered several times per hour around the Noto Peninsula, most of which were lower than the magnitude of 4. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the number of aftershocks reached 187 by 10 a.m. Monday (0100 GMT), with their intensity varying from 1-4 on the Japanese scale.

    At 7:16 a.m. (2216 GMT, Sunday), an aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 hit Ishikawa and its vicinity, the agency said. No tsunami warning was issued over it.

    The agency also said Monday that there is a 70 percent probability that aftershocks with a magnitude 5 or higher will occur in the next three days and a 10 percent probability for aftershocks with a magnitude 6 or higher.

    Around 570 houses were destroyed or damaged in the three prefectures, Kyodo News quoted the Fire and Disaster Management Agency as saying.

    In Wajima city, Ishikawa prefecture, the most hard-hit area, Koichi Yikeue, an officer from the city's firefighter department, told Xinhua on Sunday night that one person was killed, 8 people were severely injured and 49 were slightly injured in the city up to 11:30 p.m.(1430 GMT). A 52-year-old woman was crushed by a stone lantern that collapsed in her garden after the earthquake.

    A total of 307 houses were flattened or damaged, leading some 2,600 people to evacuate to community centers and other shelters, the Wajima city government said. Water supplies were cut to around 5,500 households in Wajima.

    Meanwhile, Ishikawa prefecture resumed the operations of Noto airport in Wajima, which was closed since the Sunday's quake.