Schoolchildren from the devastated southeastern Iranian city also joined surviving teachers to register although with most of Bam's schools destroyed or badly damaged it may be a few days before classes begin again.

Ten days after the disaster, families who have endured freezing temperatures and little sanitation in makeshift tents by the rubble of their homes began moving into a network of camps set up by Iranian authorities and aid agencies.

"Thirty-eight families arrived today and more will come," said Interior Minister Abdolvahed Musavi-Lari, adding: "We have promised to rebuild the city in 18 months so it is only temporary lodging."

The quake killed between 30,000 and 35,000 people when it struck before dawn on December 26, flattening most buildings in the city including the ancient mud-built citadel, a world heritage site.

Musavi-Lari was in Bam to oversee the massive relief and recovery operation as well as the first steps to drawing up a comprehensive reconstruction plan, expected to be completed in about a month.

Mehdi Jahangiri, director general of planning in Kerman province's governorate, said the survivors -- who number at least 50,000 -- were being moved to a network of camps as the job of clearing away rubble and collecting the remaining dead bodies goes into full swing.

"We are preparing the ground for the survivors to move to five camps with the capacity for 15,000 families," he said.

Each family is being given a tent, blankets, water, basic supplies, a stove and a hot meal each day. Toilets have been installed at one camp while showers and a power line are to be set up shortly and Turkey has said it will provide 800 prefabricated houses within the next two days.

The United Nations, which said donations already amounted to 73.9 million dollars, is planning to launch a formal appeal for more funds from the international community on Thursday.

With the help of the UN children's fund UNICEF and the Iranian Red Crescent, local officials also gathered in tents and prefabricated buildings across the city for the grim task of gauging the full scale of the tragedy by registering surviving pupils and teachers.

The head of Kerman province's education department, Mohammad Taghi-Zadeh, told AFP an estimated 1,200 teachers and 10,000 pupils died when the quake struck.

At least 6,000 children had lost at least one parent, he said.

"For certain, the teachers and the pupils badly need psychological help because they are morally devastated. We are hoping to begin group counselling," said Ali Zang-Abadi, head of education in Bam.

It was not clear when classes would begin, with emotions running high as children queued up in front of tents or shipping containers where class registers were laid out.

"I just found out that two of my classmates are gone," said Shima Delijani, 13, as she waited to register with her older brother at their collapsed school.

"I am devastated," she said, barely able to hold back her sobs. "But I'm happy the schools will reopen -- I am afraid of the aftershocks so I need to talk to people."

Elementary teacher Tahereh Farokhi-Nejad, who has been helping youngsters from deprived areas for the past 28 years, said she had lost at least one pupil.

"Out of the 14 pupils, I am sure at least one was killed. You cannot imagine how I feel to have lost them -- they were making such good progress," she said, explaining she had moved her own children to the nearby city of Kerman because each of the dozens of aftershocks made them "scream during the night."

Iran has promised to rebuild the city within two years and hopes half the reconstruction cost, at the moment estimated to total at least 4,000 billion rials (400 million euros, 500 million dollars), will come from foreign donors.

Meanwhile top cleric Hassan Rowhani said the Supreme National Security Council which he heads would on Saturday relook at moving the seat of government from Tehran.

"The capital must be moved," Rowhani told national television, adding the proposal had been floating around since 1991 but had failed to gain any momentum and the full cooperation of all government bodies.

The Iranian capital, which sprawls over 1,600 square kilometers (640 square miles) and is home to some 12 million people, straddles several major seismic fault lines.

Experts say a major earthquake can be expected in Tehran every 150 years. The last one occurred around 1830.

TERRA.WIRE