The Envisat environmental satellite is launched, with its purpose being the recording of information on environmental change.

1. 2002 Hindu Kush earthquakes. A 7.4 earthquake strikes Afghanistan killing 166 people.
2. Three weeks after the first of the 2002 Hindu Kush earthquakes, a 6.1 earthquake strikes again killing around 1000 people.
3. A Palestinian suicide bomber kills 30 people and injures 140 others at a hotel in Netanya, Israel triggering Operation Defensive Shield, a large-scale counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank, two days later.