Cloud computing service providers that set their sights on the Asia Pacific market have been aggressively extending their data center footprint in Hong Kong in recent months. These include Verizon Business, Equinix and China Telecom. These vendors chose to set up data centers in Hong Kong not just for its strategic location, business-friendly environment and low tax rates, but also because the city has been seen as earthquake-proof.

The Deep Bay earthquake was a wake up call to many in the local community. Was it also a wake up call to the IT community? The key concern is, can cloud service providers guarantee the safety of their cloud facilities in the event of another mild earthquake in Hong Kong?