Self-Defense Forces troops, police officers and firefighters started full-scale search operations in the small hours of Thursday in the two prefectures. The operations involved about 7,800 personnel.

A man was found dead in Asakura, Fukuoka, where 24-hour rainfall to 11:40 a.m. Thursday (2:40 a.m. GMT) reached 545.5 millimeters, a record high.

In Hita, Oita, where the 24-hour rainfall to 10:50 a.m. totaled a record 370.0 millimeters, a landslide killed a 43-year-old man and injured two women. A 79-year-old man was found dead in a river in the city.

In Asakura, a 70-year-old man was found in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest and later confirmed dead. An 87-year-old man and his 86-year-old wife were found in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest.

In Hita, 15 people were missing, while 68 people could not be contacted as of 8 p.m.

In Fukuoka, one in Asakura and three in the village of Toho were missing as of 6 p.m.

On Wednesday evening, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued special emergency warnings for heavy rain caused by an intensified seasonal rain front in the two prefectures. The warnings, which covered 20 municipalities in Fukuoka and 12 in Oita, were lifted on Thursday afternoon.

But the agency forecast intermittent heavy rain through Friday afternoon and put residents on alert for landslides and flooding.

An emergency warning is issued to prevent people's lives from being endangered when the agency sees an imminent risk of an unusually massive natural disaster that may happen only once in decades.

Evacuation advisories were issued for over 300,000 people in the Fukuoka city of Kurume and over 50,000 people in Asakura. (Jiji Press)