Argentina regularly receives cold air from the south that can reach low latitudes owing to the influence of the Andes. Cold waves are often accompanied with severe snow storms or extremely cold conditions that can have a devastating impact on its economy.
The Richter Scale measures the magnitude of an earthquake which is  another way of describing the energy released in the earthquake.
The Mercalli scale also measures the effects of an earthquake at different locations. The Richter scale calculates the strength of an earthquake based on measurements of the amplitude of the largest wave recorded on a seismometer as well as the distance between the earthquake and the same seismometer. It was developed to measure earthquakes in California.