Sendai, Japan (CNN) -- In a nation besieged with grief over mounting casualties, fears of possible radiation and the threat of more earthquakes, the nightmare grew for Japanese residents Monday as thousands of bodies reportedly were found and crews struggled to keep damaged nuclear plants under control.
Friday's 8.9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami killed thousands, based on official and Japanese media reports, but an exact accounting of the disaster remains hidden beneath widespread damage that rescuers are only beginning to penetrate.
The confirmed death toll, rising every few hours, reached 1,897 on Monday. But that didn't account for thousands of bodies Japan's Kyodo News said had been found in the hard-hit Miyagi Prefecture on Japan's northeast coast. The number of dead is expected to go up as rescuers reach more hard-hit areas.
At least 3,002 people were missing Monday, the National Police Agency said,. Public broadcaster NHK reported that 450,000 people were living in shelters.
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Gallery: Japan begins road to recovery In Fukushima Prefecture, an explosion in a building housing the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant injured 11 workers. Hours later, cooling problems at the plant's No. 2 reactor allowed nuclear fuel rods to overheat and generate radioactive steam that officials will have to vent into the atmosphere.
Crews thought they had the situation under control, but water levels dropped dangerously again Monday night when a buildup of steam prevented fresh seawater from entering the reactor chamber, Tokyo Electric Power Co. reported. Officials said they would be able to fix the problem.
A similar explosion over the weekend occurred in another reactor at the Fukushima plant.
Government officials have tried to calm the public, saying the releases of radiation are modest. But people are still nervous.
"I'm due to give birth soon," said a woman who had to evacuate from the area. "I want to know what's going on at the nuclear plant. I'm scared."
"It's just adding insult to injury," said Ryan McDonald, an American living in Kitakata, about 60 miles west of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. "The earthquake was horrible. Then the tsunami was horrible. And that's not enough. Now there's a nuclear fear."
In Tokyo, where many trains were not running or were severely delayed because of power outages, residents worried about the threat of more aftershocks as they started their workweek Monday.
Since the initial earthquake, the country has endured 44 aftershocks of a magnitude greater than 6.0, the point at which seismologists define an earthquake as "strong." Three of those have exceeded 7.0, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
"It didn't really feel safe going to an empty office," Tokyo resident Mia Moore said, citing the ongoing tremors that continue to rattle the city every few hours. "People want to stay with their families at this time to recover, really. It's quite exhausting feeling so nervous all the time. I think people want to get back to normality as soon as they can."
But normalcy seems a distant memory across the hardest-hit region of Japan. NHK, citing police and disaster management officials, reported that 63,000 buildings had been damaged, more than 6,000 of them obliterated.
"I've never imagined this kind of devastation," Nobuko Ogasawara told NHK after failing to reach a relative's home in a devastated coastal area.
In Miyagi Prefecture, rescue workers sifted through mountains of debris, and hope for survivors appeared to dim.
New video Monday from the area showed a broad wave of Friday's tsunami washing away an entire residential neighborhood, as residents who had fled to higher ground could be heard crying out in despair. Some people can be seen perilously close to the churning debris and running away on a road leading out of the neighborhood.
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The tsunami's destruction: Before and after In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan
--Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan
--Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan
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In the Sendai area, where buildings were disintegrated by rushing water within seconds during the tsunami, a bizarre mix of sport-utility vehicles, cabinets, sofas, a taxi and a doll were heaped in a pile outside the remnants of a house. A white car sat precariously at the top of a sloped house.
Solemn residents waited in lines that stretched blocks for food, water and gas. Despite the devastation surrounding them, the crowds appeared calm and orderly.
At a shelter in Sendai, a shell-shocked man who fled the tsunami would not let go of his 3-week-old infant. "I have to protect my children. I have to protect my children," he said.
Some areas in the city of Ishinomaki remained inaccessible by ground Monday. Japanese troops had gone door-to-door in hope of finding survivors -- but found mostly the bodies of elderly residents.
Cold weather has increased the hardship for disaster victims and rescuers. Rescuers report that some victims have been exposed to cold weather and water, in some cases for days. Conditions are expected to worsen, with temperatures forecast to drop below freezing by Wednesday across portions of the earthquake zone, accompanied by snow, heavy rain and the threat of mudslides.
About 15,000 people have been rescued, Kyodo News reported Monday, citing Prime Minister Nato Kan.
Among them was Hiromitsu Shinkawa, a 60-year-old man from Minamisoma who was swept away with his house, Kyodo said.
The crew of a Japanese naval ship found him floating 15 kilometers (nine miles) off Fukushima Prefecture on Sunday, waving a self-made red flag while standing on a piece of his house's roof, according to Kyodo.
"I was saved by holding onto the roof, but my wife was swept away," he told Kyodo.
The problem of trying to keep Japan's large, modern industrial economy running added to the difficulties facing the nation.
On Sunday, the country's prime minister called on people to pull together and face sacrifices.
"In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan," Kan said.
With the imperiled Fukushima plant offline, Tokyo Electric Power said it was expecting a shortfall of about 25 percent capacity, which necessitated blackouts.
Rolling blackouts began in eight prefectures Monday evening, with electricity turned off for three to six hours some parts. Downtown Tokyo was not included. Up to 45 million people will be affected by the rolling outages, which will last until April 8.
Kazuya Matsuo, who lives near Tokyo in Saitama Prefecture, said residents are limiting power consumption on their own.
"Many people appeal (to) each other to save electric power on (the) internet," including on social media sites, Matsuo said. "Many Japanese people are cooperating."
The earthquake and tsunami will rank among the costliest natural disasters on record, experts predict.
Japan's central bank announced plans Monday to inject 15 trillion yen ($186 billion) into the economy to reassure global investors in the stability of Japanese financial markets and banks.
Still, Japanese markets dropped sharply Monday, the first trading day since the disaster. The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 6.18 percent.
The drop was the largest single-day fall since September 2008 after the collapse of Lehman Brothers during the financial crisis.
A massive emergency response operation is under way in northern Japan, with world governments and international aid groups coming together to bring relief to the beleaguered island nation. Sixty-nine governments have offered to help with search and rescue, said the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Friday's quake was the strongest in recorded history to hit Japan, according to U.S. Geological Survey records that date to 1900. The world's largest recorded quake took place in Chile on May 22, 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5, the agency said.
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