Storm chaos in Spain and Portugal: Floods 'trigger earthquakes'

A deadly storm has sparked chaos in Spain and Portugal as ferocious winds and heavy flooding submerged towns, forced motorways shut and triggered a freak earthquake in a tourist hotspot. Roads have turned into raging rivers and a man in his 60s has died after being swept away by a powerful current in the south-east of Portugal, as Storm Leonardo batters the peninsula. Torrential rain and gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour have caused landslides and triggered three earthquakes in Gaucin, a mountainous town in the province of Malaga. The town’s mayor, Pedro Godino, said the tremors were caused by underground water movements. Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes across Andalusia with injuries reported after a building collapsed. The flooding has caused mayhem in Madrid as the M14 motorway near Madrid-Barajas Airport has been forced shut with fire crews battling to drain the roads. Major pile-ups of traffic have been reported on the M13 with disruption further exacerbated by a burst pipe flooding the airport's metro station. In Seville, the iconic 12th century Giralda bell tower has been damaged with debris falling. A woman in her 30s is missing near the Costa del Sol after jumping into a river to rescue her dog. Grazalema recorded over 40 centimetres of rain in one day. Portugal is also reeling, with more than 3,300 incidents reported since Sunday. A new Atlantic storm is forecast to arrive on Saturday.