Russian rescuers involved in relief efforts in quake-hit Japanese city of Sendai pulled 12 bodies from the rubble in the past 24 hours, but found no survivors, a Far Eastern emergencies service department said on Friday.

"In the past 24 hours, rescuers checked and cleared a zone where 12 dead bodies were found. Search and rescue efforts would continue on Friday," a spokesman for the emergencies ministry's Far Eastern department, Sergei Viktorov, said.

Seven dead bodies were found by the Russian team on Wednesday. So far, 165 Russian specialists are involved in rescue efforts in Japan.

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan last Friday, leaving some 5,700 dead and 9,500 or missing, according to most recent updates.

Aftershocks continue to rattle the area. Three 5.0-magnitude tremors were registered in the area on Friday morning, followed by 4.8- and 4.9-magnitude aftershocks. No tsunami warning was issued.

A Russian plane is to evacuate up to 162 Russians from the disaster-hit country on Friday.

KHABAROVSK / MOSCOW, March 18 (RIA Novosti)