Japan has requested relief support from the international community following its worst-ever earthquake on Friday.

The Japanese government has already deployed all its military vessels and aircraft to aid in the rescue and recovery efforts in quake-hit regions.

Tokyo has pledged to increase the total number of Japanese Self-Defense Forces mobilized from 20-thousand to 50-thousand to assist in recovery efforts.

So far, some eight-thousand members of the Self-Defense Forces have been sent to the northeastern part of Miyagi Prefecture, which was the hardest hit by the earthquake. Tokyo has also deployed 20 destroyers for rescue operations and 25 jets to assess post-quake conditions.

The police, fire department, and the health ministries in Tokyo and Osaka are pooling together all their resources and have sent emergency teams of medical and rescue workers to the afflicted regions.

Meanwhile, U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said that Japan has requested that the international community send emergency rescue workers and search teams to quake-affected areas.

She added that the U.N. has on standby 68 emergency relief teams from 45 nations to rescue survivors and assist in recovery efforts.