meanwhile, officials say the number of people killed by the quake and tsunami could exceed 15,000. nbc s ian williams has the latest from the fishing port. reporter: the death toll from this disaster keeps rising. more than 8,000 according to the latest official figures with at least 12,000 missing. hundreds of thousands have been displaced and in many areas there is still a shortage of food, water, medicine and fuel. the u.s. is stepping up its own relief efforts while at the same time trying to reassure the families of service personnel thousands of whom are being evacuated under a voluntary departure program. i don t want my sweeties to go but we want them to be in a safer place than what s here. reporter: it all represents an unprecedented challenge for the u.s. military. if someone said we re going to give you an exercise and we re going to throw an earthquake at you, we re going to throw a tsunami at you, we re