Survivors of the December 26 disaster have until now been reluctant to abandon the makeshift tents set up by the ruins of their homes for fear that looters would steal any belongings left under the rubble.

"Thirty-eight families arrived today and more will come," said Interior Minister Abdolvahed Musavi-Lari, who was visiting Bam on Monday to oversee the opening of one camp.

The tent camp can house 5,000 people or about 1,000 families but Musavi-Lari said more were needed.

Since the day of the killer quake, survivors have been enduring winter temperatures below freezing at nights in this southeastern city, where most homes and other buildings were flattened.

Each family at the camp is being given a tent and groundsheet, blankets, water, basic supplies, a stove for cooking and heating, and a hot meal each day, prepared by a US non-governmental organisation, Alabama Disaster Relief.

Toilets have been erected while showers and a power line are to be installed shortly, according to camp official Mohammad Ali Salehi, who said the tent cities needed to have vital services to make sure people wanted to live there.

But Musavi-Lari said: "We have promised to rebuild the city in 18 months so it is only temporary lodgings."

Mehdi Jahangiri, director general of planning in quake-hit Kerman province's governorate, said they were preparing for survivors to move to five camps run by the Iranian Red Crescent with a total capacity for 15,000 families.

TERRA.WIRE