The victims in Hela province included two pregnant women and eight children. Highland clans have fought each other for centuries, but the recent influx of automatic weapons has made the clashes more deadly.
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill resigned on Sunday following a string of high-profile political defections that threatened his leadership. He handed over the reins to veteran politician Julius Chan, who has twice been prime minister.
The bulk carrier was stranded on a coral reef near World Heritage-listed waters in the Solomon Islands on February 5.
Behrouz Boochani, who is held by the Australian state in a remote Pacific detention centre, has won the country's top literature prize with his book written on his mobile phone and delivered one chapter at a time via WhatsApp.
There were no immediate reports of damage from two earthquakes, but the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that waves had been "observed" and could reach up to three metres in height.
The two-day summit in Papua New Guinea was punctuated by acrimony and underlined a rising rivalry between China and the West for influence in the usually neglected South Pacific.
US Vice President Mike Pence called many of China's global infrastructure projects as low quality while Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against protectionism, saying countries are facing a choice of confrontation and cooperation.
Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, former military leader who led a bloodless takeover 12 years ago, favourite to retain office against a fractured opposition.
There are fears the referendum could inflame tensions between indigenous Kanak people, who tend to favour independence, and the white population, which boiled over into deadly violence in the 1980s.
The devastation of the magnitude 7.5 quake that hit the region early on Monday is becoming apparent with a rising death toll and a shut down of economic activities as aftershocks continue to rock the country.
"The finding opens the way to a major compensation and also for consequential orders against both the PNG and Australian governments," says Refugee Action Coalition spokesman.
Reports have emerged of baton-wielding officials dragging refugees from their rooms towards buses bound for PNG-run transition centres elsewhere on Manus.
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