A clerk at a video and DVD rental store in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, rearranges merchandise that toppled from shelves early Wednesday.

At least 27 people were injured in a pre-dawn temblor Wednesday that rattled Tokyo and neighboring prefectures.

Train services in some areas were disrupted and universities delayed the start of entrance exams.

The injuries were recorded in Tokyo and four outlying prefectures.

The temblor struck at 4:46 a.m. and had an intensity of lower 5 on the Japanese scale of 7, in Tsukuba, Tsuchiura, and Tamari village in Ibaraki Prefecture.

With an intensity of 4, the jolt was also felt in Tochigi, Tochigi Prefecture; Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture and Kashiwa in Chiba Prefecure, as well as Tokyo's Adachi Ward and Midori Ward in Yokoyama.

The Japan Meteorological Agency put the quake's focus about 45 kilometers below the surface in southern Ibaraki Prefecture.

In terms of the Richter scale, the temblor registered a magnitude of 5.4.

Officials in Ibaraki Prefecture said seven people were injured, including a 65-year-old man who fell down the stairs of a building in Tsukuba. He was temporarily listed in critical condition.

A 62-year-old man hurt his neck in a fall at his home in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture.

A 21-year-old man in Tone, also in Ibaraki Prefecture, broke a tooth after jumping out of a second-floor window.

Tokyo Fire Department officials reported six injuries, including a 68-year-old woman in Itabashi Ward, who fell from her bed and broke her left arm.

In Chiba Prefecture, seven people were injured in falls or from furniture toppling over.

In Kashiwa, the shocks triggered an emergency shut-off valve, leaving 30,800 households without water until about 6 a.m. A water main also was damaged in a Matsudo housing complex.

Six injuries were reported in Saitama Prefecture, including a 40-year-old man from Saitama who fell and dislocated his shoulder.

Water services in Kawaguchi were cut temporarily.

The temblor affected transportation services, causing some universities to delay entrance exams.

The JR Joban and Mito lines were shut down between Toride and Kandatsu stations, both in Ibaraki Prefecture, until nearly 8 a.m.

Officials suspended 39 train services, including six limited express trains, such as the ``Fresh Hitachi 2'' connecting Tsuchiura and Ueno in Tokyo. An additional 25 trains were delayed for up to three hours.

The Keihin Tohoku, Utsunomiya, Saikyo and Musashino lines were forced to run at reduced speeds.

The disruptions prompted Keio University to delay by one hour the start of entrance exams for its law faculty.

Waseda University also pushed back by 20 minutes the start of entrance exams for its science and engineering departments. It allowed about 60 students who were delayed by Joban Line services to take the exam late in a separate room.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake hit near the border of the Philippine Sea-tectonic plate and the land-side plate.

Experts say southern Ibaraki Prefecture sits on an intricate maze affected by the two tectonic plates-a potential ``nest of earthquakes'' ripe for jolts of Wednesday's size.(IHT/Asahi: February 17,2005)