<p>Accurate assessment of the degree of surrounding rock damage and the proneness for rockburst is crucial for ensuring the safety of tunnel engineering in high geostress environments. In this study, based on the acoustic wave method and take the Geological Strength Index (<i>GSI</i>) and the disturbance factor (<i>D</i>)into account, we proposed a quantitative evaluation method for the rockburst proneness of surrounding rock, and conducts a field evaluation of rockburst risk for a tunnel in a western region of China. The results show that the quantified <i>GSI</i> corresponds well with the recommended values and can also provide a good characterization of <i>D</i>. The quantitative evaluation method for rockburst proneness based on <i>GSI</i> and <i>D</i> can effectively assess the proneness for rockburst in the surrounding rock, and the rockburst proneness is in good agreement with the scale of rockburst debris observed in the field. The degree of damage in the surrounding rock decreases with increasing radial depth, and the proneness for rockburst correspondingly increases. The distribution depth of low rockburst proneness increases with the number of disturbances, while the distribution depth of high rockburst proneness decreases accordingly. It is noteworthy that with the increase in the number of disturbances, the <i>D</i> in the weak damage zone (WDZ) shows a transition from linear to nonlinear, a change that is significant for a deeper understanding of the development mechanism of surrounding rock damage.</p>