This paper explores the paleoseismic record potentially preserved in the upper 40 m of hydraulic piston cores collected in 1996 at two sites in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia, during ocean drilling program (ODP) Leg 169S. The ODP cores are missing 1±2 m of water-rich sediment directly underlying the sea¯oor, but this sediment is preserved in shorter piston cores collected in 1989 and 1991. The upper part of the ODP cores consists of rhythmically laminated (varved) marine mud with intercalated massive beds, interpreted to be debris ¯ow deposits. Some of the debris ¯ow deposits are linked to past earthquakes, including the 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake (M7.2), a great (M8-9) plate-boundary earthquake at the Cascadia subduction zone in January 1700, and a large crustal or plate-boundary earthquake about 1000 yr ago. Earthquakes may also be responsible for debris ¯ows in about ad 1600, 1500, 1250, 1150, 850, 450, 350, 180, and bc 200, 220, 500, 900, and 1050. If so, the average recurrence interval for moderate to large earthquakes, which trigger debris ¯ows in Saanich Inlet, is about 150 yr. This recurrence interval is broadly consistent with the frequency of moderate to large earthquakes in the region during the historical period. Debris ¯ows, however, can also be triggered by non-seismic processes, making it dif®cult to assemble a complete earthquake record from the Saanich Inlet cores. We propose that extensive debris ¯ow deposits, emplaced by single large failures or many smaller coincident failures, probably have a seismic origin.