Disclosed is a tunnel protection structure suitable for active fault areas and high ground stress areas, and relates to the technical field of tunnel engineering construction. The tunnel protection structure comprises at least one protection unit, wherein a plurality of protection units are sequentially connected and distributed along the axial direction of a tunnel, and the protection units comprise a radial protection ring and two axial protection rings which are fixedly arranged between a lining structure and surrounding rock and are distributed along the axial direction of the tunnel; the radial protection ring comprises a plurality of radial buffer energy consumption layers which are sequentially sleeved along the radial direction of the tunnel; and the axial protection ring comprises a plurality of axial buffer energy consumption layers which are sequentially and fixedly connected along the axial direction of the tunnel.