Julian Makaa of the National Disaster Management Office said the authorities were unaware of any more people still believed to be missing in the devastated western region of the South Pacific archipelago.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare called for long-term international assistance to help rebuild the shattered region as authorities said 10 more deaths had been recorded at the village of Nusa Baruku on the island of Gizo.

"Most of those killed were young children," said Makaa of the latest recorded deaths.

He said the deaths were confirmed after villagers advised visiting officials during the weekend.

Gizo island, where 33 people were killed, bore the brunt of the 8.0 earthquake and tsunami on April 2, Makaa said.

Sogavare pledged to more than 6,000 displaced survivors that he would seek long-term aid to rehabilitate disaster hit areas.

"As far as the people right in our villages and this township that are left homeless by the tsunami and earthquake are concerned, it is very important that we look into their long-term welfare," Sogavare said in Gizo.

The prime minister is on a five-day tour of the disaster zone and said his government would approach donors about long-term support.

The tsunami and landslides generated by the huge quake destroyed hundreds of homes, food gardens and water wells.

Hundreds of survivors descended from their hilltop camps on Sunday night to listen to Sogavare speak.

He said the government was considering relocating communities living in low lying coastal areas.

"Right now a lot of small low-lying islands in the country are basically sitting in the dark waiting for trouble to happen," he said.

Many villagers remain camping in the hills because of fears there could be another quake and tsunami.

But government geologists said there was little likelihood a large earthquake would strike in the near future because the April 2 quake had released built-up stresses in the earth's crust.

They said aftershocks could continute for weeks or months but at a diminishing strength, according to a government statement.

But Australian Seismological Centre director Kevin McCue said on the day of the tsunami that there was a 50 percent chance there would be another 8.0-magnitude quake within a few weeks.

He said four major earthquakes in the 1970s had been quickly followed by quakes of similar magnitude.

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