Rescuers dig with bare hands for survivors as quake toll reaches 4,300 in Turkey, Syria

RESCUERS in Turkey and Syria dug with their bare hands through the freezing night Tuesday hunting for survivors among the rubble of thousands of buildings felled in a series of violent earthquakes.

The confirmed death toll across the two countries has soared above 4,300 after a swarm of strong tremors near the Turkey-Syria border -- the largest of which measured at a massive 7.8-magnitude.