The estimated death toll in Japan surpassed 10,000 Sunday, as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns and hundreds of thousands of people struggled to find food and water. (CBC)

A Winnipegger living in northeastern Japan says supplies are running low and residents are living in fear of a possible second quake this week.

"There's not a lot of stuff that you can go buy in the stores anymore because there's panic going on. There's people rushing to the shops and just buying everything they can — toilet paper, things like that, water, flashlights and batteries," said Allan Miranda.

"The stores are just empty, the shelves are all empty."

Miranda lives south of Tokyo, or about 400 kilometers from the epicentre of the massive 8.9 magnitude quake and resultant tsunami that struck Friday.

The estimated death toll from the dual disaster surpassed 10,000 as of Sunday, according to officials.

The Japan Meteorological Agency warned on Monday of a 70 per cent chance that a magnitude 7.0 or higher temblor could hit by Wednesday. The risk then drops slightly to 50 per cent until March 19.

Continual aftershocks

As of March 14, there have been aftershocks larger than magnitude 7.0 on three occasions and those larger than 6.0 have occurred 44 times, according to the JPA. Many of those have been at a depth too great to cause much damage on the surface.

"When compared to past cases, the activity of aftershocks is very high," said the JPA warning.

'Every hour you just don't know what's going to come next.'—Allan Miranda

A series of blasts that have ripped through the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and widespread electricity shortages have prompted rolling blackouts and the earth will not stop moving, Miranda said.

"Every hour you just don't know what's going to come next. We get several aftershocks all day," he said. "I work in the City Hall on the seventh floor and [on Monday] we had quite a bit of swaying back and forth."

A Winnipeg woman who was desperately trying to contact her sister in Japan finally made contact on the weekend. Lucy Yamashita told CBC News her sister, Jean Maeda, was riding a train outside of Tokyo when the quake struck.

"She was able to get off and she was about three stops away from home, so she just walked home. She said she could still feel the ground shaking as she was walking so it was a little bit worrisome for her."

Maeda is fine but her family is urging her to leave Japan, said Yamashita, the president of the Manitoba Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre.

"I think several of our family have said she should just leave and, you know, head to Canada," said Yamashita, adding that a fundraiser for Red Cross Japanese disaster relief will be held at the Cultural Centre on Sunday at 2 p.m.

The Mennonite Central Committee is also accepting donations for Japanese disaster relief.

The Manitoba government is also offering to send a special rescue team to find victims trapped by the disasters. It's what the Urban Search and Rescue Team trains to do, said Premier Greg Selinger.

In addition to making the team available, the province is also pledging $100,000 in aid. Selinger said the money will go to non-profit organizations on the ground in Japan.

Friday's 8.9-magnitude quake washed away vehicles and buildings, also leaving 1.4 million without running water and 2.5 million households without heat and electricity. (CBC)