Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 31, 1991                   TAG: 9103310020
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ST. LOUIS                                LENGTH: Medium

GROUND DIDN'T SHAKE, BUT TOWN'S ECONOMY DID

Merchants say the prediction gave a big jolt to local businesses. And they expect the economic aftershocks of the Earthquake That Wasn't to keep generating cash.

"Because of him, I had a real good couple of weeks," said bar owner Jack Hailey. "And you know, he has put New Madrid on the map."

Hailey, owner of Hap's Bar and Grill, hosted a Shake Rattle and Roll party on Dec. 3 - the day New Mewxico climatologist Browning said a major earthquake would strike the New Madrid fault zone, which runs through southeast Missouri and four other states.

Motels, restaurants and taverns raked in money as reporters and the curious flocked to the area. Other businesses sold bottled water, can openers and other emergency goods to residents who worried that there might really be an earthquake.

"It was a very prosperous time for everybody," said Angie Holtzhouser of the Chamber of Commerce.

Holtzhouser and others are doing what they can to make the prosperity continue.

The state chose New Madrid as one of two test sites for a program to help towns develop tourism. The town re-entered Missouri's community betterment program. New signs along the Mississippi River explain the town's history.

Businesses hope for a busy summer now that New Madrid has name recognition with the many travelers who drive by on Interstate 55.

Holtzhouser said several new attractions are planned, including farm tours and boat rides.

"We have 25,000 cars a day pass by on the interstate," Holtzhouser said. "I think it would be safe to assume that a great many of those people will recognize the name New Madrid. . . . We are expecting large numbers."

Residents are talking about designating Dec. 3 as Iben Browning Day. Hailey says he'll host another Shake Rattle and Roll party this year. "It probably won't be near as big as the last one, but I'm sure a lot of the hometown crowd will have a good time," he said.

Browning declined to be interviewed this week. His wife, Florence, said he did not "care much for looking back on it."

Arch Johnston, director of Memphis State University's Center for Earthquake Research and Information, said Browning "sent exactly the wrong message . . . that somehow you could get past a single date."

"The earthquake hazard is here, essentially forever," he said. "We live with it much like California does."