More than 500 tourists were stranded on the Vivekananda rock memorial in Kanyakumari as there were no boats available to bring them back to the mainland after huge waves struck the area on Sunday morning in the aftermath of a tremor.

The memorial is situated on a piece of rock, where Vivekananda is said to have meditated. A large number of tourists visit the memorial daily and are ferried to the rock by boats.

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Official sources said the tourists had gone to the rock memorial by boats. However, after the huge waves struck, the boats, which had come back, were not operated stranding the tourists.

Efforts were being made to bring the tourists back to the mainland, the sources said.

The Southern Air Command of the Indian Air Force has flown two helicopters to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to rescue the stranded persons, a defence ministry spokesman said.