AN OXFORDSHIRE man working in China has described the moment a massive earthquake struck, killing thousands and leaving millions homeless.

Mike West, from Oxlease, Cogges, Witney, was based in the Chengdu region of the country when the quake hit.

He travelled to some of the worst affected areas following last week's 7.9-magnitude earthquake and was one of the first westerners to arrive in the disaster zone.

The former Witney Rugby Club player, who is working for a medical systems firm, said: "Most of the devastation occurred an hour's drive from Chengdu. Our factory is midway between Chengdu and Dujunyang, one of the cities hit by the quake.

"The immediate reaction after the shock was thinking it must have been a very large tremor. I have been in many parts of the world and experienced quakes of different magnitudes, but this was far worse."

Mr West, and colleagues from Alltech Medical Systems, immediately downed tools and headed towards the epicentre to see how they could help.

He travelled with Heart to Heart - an emergency relief charity - and the Red Cross to Shi Fang, about an hour's drive from Chengdu.

He said: "We delivered bottled water and assessed the situation with a view to setting up a supply point.

"The area outside the city had been cut off since the quake and the full extent of the damage was starting to become clear."

China's premier Wen Jiabao said at the weekend the quake was the most destructive since the People's Republic was founded in 1949.

He thought its scale was greater than the Tangshan earthquake in 1976, which left about 240,000 people dead.

Mr West, a former employee at Siemens in Enysham, said many survivors began arriving in the city from outlying areas, which had suffered a battering from the quake.

He said: "We visited one of the hospitals where there was a steady influx of casualties. The medical situation seemed to be coping although, at the time, we understood they had only just opened up the roads to a new disaster area, so that situation may change."

Mr West described the Chinese relief effort as "well-organised and orderly".

He said: "It was quite a humbling experience to talk with so many young children who were all eager to practise their English at the distribution centre."

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office said its team remained in Chengdu, helping to co-ordinate the search for a number of British nationals who have not yet been accounted for. It is still not known how many independent British travellers were in the region when the quake struck.