Many thousands are feared dead after two "once-in-a-century" earthquakes rocked Turkey and Syria today.

A massive 7.8 magnitude shock - one of the biggest for 100 years - was followed hours later by another huge 7.5 magnitude quake, devastating at least 12 cities.

Frantic survivors used their bare hands to dig through the rubble of flattened homes and were filmed pulling children to safety amid scenes of utter destruction.

The twin earthquakes also sparked tsunami alerts on Mediterranean coasts in Greece, Cyprus and Italy, and shaking was felt as far away as Egypt and Iran.

By late afternoon the confirmed death toll was over 2,300 - but the US Geological Survey warned it could top 10,000 when rescuers have reached the worst hit areas.

Most victims were asleep when the initial mega quake hit at 4am local time.

The 7.8 shock was the biggest in Turkey for "hundreds of years", geophysics professor Martin Mai told the BBC.

It struck near Gaziantep in eastern Turkey at a depth of around 15 miles.

It was followed by dozens of powerful aftershocks which toppled already damaged buildings in great heaps of dust.

Then just before 1.30pm a second massive quake of magnitude 7.5 sent terrified locals running into the streets.

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