Barrington, NH (AP)  -- It started as a vibration in his chair, but by the time it was over, John Cafasso of Barrington, New Hampshire, was in the middle of the devastating earthquake that has killed thousands in China.

Cafasso is an engineer with Pratt & Whitney and was working in Chengdu, China, on Monday when the quake hit.

He's fine, but he told Foster's Daily Democrat Tuesday evening that tremors were still rumbling through the land. He looked out his hotel window to see people camping on the streets.

At his office, he said his chair vibrated, windows rattled and the ceiling, floor and desks began to jump. He and co-workers ran for their lives, and outside, they felt the ground jumping up and down and saw the parking lot ripple like a wave.

He's trying to find a way out of the country and back to New Hampshire.