The Tsunami [Images] Alert Centre in Hawaii sent an e-mail to Thailand's Earthquake Bureau an hour before the waves struck but the missive remained unopened, says a report in the London [Images] Times.

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The report quoted a Bangkok newspaper, the Nation, as saying the Bureau staff were too busy sending faxes about earthquakes.

Bangkok felt tremors of the Indonesia quake at 8:05 am and the Bureau was flooded with calls. In the rush to focus on the quake, the vital warning was ignored, says the Times.

The report quoted the officer on duty at the time the e-mail was sent as saying he did not think of the waves because he was an earthquake specialist.