The quake, the world's fourth largest ever recorded, caused several nuclear power stations to automatically shut down. A subsequent tsunami further damaged some of the plants and led to problems in at least two reactors.

As a result, Tokyo Electric Power Co. has lost about 27 percent of its electricity generation capacity and will be short of demand by about 10 million kilowatts, it said Sunday.

The blackouts will affect outlying areas of Tokyo and regions surrounding the capital, but will not hit central Tokyo. Each will last 3 hours and they will begin in stages from 6:20am and run until 10pm every day.

The government warned they could go on for several weeks.

The number of dead and missing stands at around 3,000, but that figure is growing by the hours. A police official in Miyagi in northern Japan told public broadcaster NHK on Sunday that he expects the death toll in his region alone to surpass 10,000.