<p>Extremely thick soft–hard (ETSH) composite coal seams are common in central and western China, where roadways are more prone to rockbursts than single homogeneous coal seams. However, research on rockburst occurrence mechanisms in ETSH seams under mining-induced stress is limited. This study investigates the damage and failure processes of soft–hard composite structure (SHCS) specimens under mining-induced stress through true triaxial unloading-dynamic disturbance tests, varying layer thicknesses, and stratigraphic distributions. The focus is on damage evolution and destruction under low-amplitude, high-frequency continuous dynamic disturbance. The test results demonstrate that the mechanical properties of the SHCS specimens under dynamic disturbance are closely related to the proportion of the soft parting layer thickness, the number of composite layers, and the distribution of soft and hard layer sequences. The dynamic damage process, recorded by a high-speed camera, along with macroscopic morphology and fractal dimension analysis after the damage, shows that the SHCS specimens are more likely to be damaged under dynamic disturbance, with a higher degree of damage. Acoustic emission monitoring was used to analyze the damage pattern and process of the SHCS specimens, confirming that dynamic disturbance accelerates the shear damage of the hard coal seams. Based on the energy criterion induced by dynamic disturbance, the occurrence mechanism and physical process of rockburst in the excavation of an ETSH composite coal seam under mining-induced stress were elucidated. These findings offer a theoretical basis for roadway layer design in ETSH seams and rockburst prevention at the mining face.</p>