Wilson to Hold Off on Quake Decision : Assistance: Governor wants information from survey teams before declaring an emergency. Temblor is downgraded to a 5.8.

Caltech scientists on Monday downgraded the Sierra Madre earthquake to a magnitude 5.8, and Gov. Pete Wilson announced he would wait for survey team assessments before deciding whether to declare an emergency.

After gathering more data from seismometers, Caltech and the Pasadena office of the U.S. Geological Survey reassessed Friday’s 7:43 a.m. temblor, which had been estimated at 6.0.

The risk of a major aftershock this week--one with a magnitude of 5.0 or greater--was estimated at just 4%, Caltech spokesman Bob Simms said.

As of noon Monday, Caltech had recorded 14 aftershocks of 2.0 or greater magnitude, the latest at 2:40 p.m. Sunday.

Friday’s temblor on the Sierra Madre fault caused one death and an estimated $20 million in damage. But James Lee, Wilson’s deputy press secretary, noted that those figures were low when contrasted with damage from the 1987 Whittier Narrows quake and the 1989 Bay Area quake.

Though former Gov. George Deukmejian did not wait for assessment reports before declaring emergencies in those quakes, Lee said, “In this particular situation we did not have a cataclysmic occurrence.”

On Monday, Wilson signed legislation delaying for six months the start of a multibillion-dollar state earthquake insurance program that would cover every homeowner for up to $15,000 in damage. The program had been scheduled to take effect Monday, but state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said it was seriously flawed and needed revision.

Fourteen teams of two engineers each from the state Office of Emergency Services were to fan out today, concentrating on cities with the heaviest damage: Pasadena, Arcadia, Monrovia and Sierra Madre.

Jim Alexander, an OES regional official in Ontario, said it usually takes up to 10 days to complete the reports and make a recommendation to the governor on whether to declare a disaster.

The declaration paves the way for state aid to property owners and renters. In addition, if Wilson asks for a federal declaration and it is granted, the Small Business Administration can provide low-interest loans to quake victims.

Even without a declaration by the governor, however, the SBA can declare a disaster if more than 25 victims report 40% of their losses are uninsured, agency spokesman William Leggerio said.

On Monday, victims were lining up at Red Cross centers in Sierra Madre and Monrovia and complaining about the slow pace of aid.

“It’s just chaotic,” Altadena resident Claudia Morgan said at the Sierra Madre center. “I made 25 calls this morning and I just got bounced around.”

She said her house had “a wide fissure around the foundation,” and worried about staying there. No structural engineer had inspected the house by 2 p.m. Monday, she said.

Among those hit hard by the quake were a family of seven from El Sereno Avenue in Pasadena. “My house is, I think, totaled,” said Juanita Jones, 64, who shared her home with a son, a daughter and four grandchildren.

Jones has been living in a motor home on the property while her daughter, Diane Carter, and Carter’s three children have been housed at the Red Cross shelter at a Sierra Madre school. The family spent Saturday night in a car in front of the damaged house.

Some parents said their small children were having difficulty sleeping.

“Mostly they’re afraid of losing me,” said Sylvia Rodriguez, who came to the Sierra Madre center with her children Vanessa, 7, and Daniel, 6. “I’m a widow. They lost their father four years ago, and mostly they seem to have more separation anxiety.”

A Red Cross Crisis Intervention Team was offering counseling to such families, though there were few takers on Monday afternoon.