SANTIAGO, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chilean Foreign Minister Roberto Ampuero sent his condolences to Japan on Thursday after a powerful 6.7 magnitude earthquake hit the northern Hokkaido prefecture.

"We send our condolences and solidarity to our friends in Japan. According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, the earthquake reached the highest level of the Shindo scale (a Japanese seismic scale)," wrote the minister on Twitter.

The earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7, struck Hokkaido prefecture at 3:08 a.m. local time Thursday (1808 GMT Wednesday), and was followed by dozens of aftershocks.

The quake logged the maximum 7 on Japan's seismic intensity scale, marking the first time for Hokkaido since the seismic scale was revised in 1996, according to Japan's weather agency.

As of Thursday night, at least nine people had been confirmed dead and more than 300 people had been injured due to the powerful quake.

Following the earthquake, the friendly soccer match between Japan and Chile due to be played on Friday in Sapporo, the capital city of Hokkaido, has been cancelled.

Chile's National Association of Professional Football has stated that the national team members are all safe and well.