After the March 11 quake jolted the Tohoku region and deadly tsunami swept away coastal towns, New York-based Buddhist priest T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki shifted into gear, drawing from work with locals after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks a decade ago to initiate memorials and other events around the city.

"If there is something important that I feel like I should do, then I just do it," Nakagaki said recently, explaining how he applied post-9/11 lessons to the disaster.

Now vice president of the Interfaith Center of New York, Nakagaki was about to leave for California to attend seminars that day - his 50th birthday - when he caught glimpses of the Tohoku tsunami horrors unfolding on TV news programs.