Objective Coal-rock dynamic disasters represent a key challenge to the safe and efficient mining of deep coals, rendering it urgent to develop regional, advance, and precise technologies for proactive disaster prevention and control.

Advances  The regional fracturing technology using underground long directional boreholes for disaster prevention and control in coal mines originated from ground fracturing. To date, a regional fracturing theory oriented to geological origin, mining responses, and disaster-causing mechanisms has been developed. Furthermore, a core equipment system incorporating high-power directional drilling rigs, variable frequency fracturing pump sets with high injection rates of fracturing fluids, infinite stage fracturing, and tools for precise fracture control has been established. Relevant technical theory and equipment have been applied to various representative projects in major coal-producing areas of China, verifying their effectiveness in the prevention and control of individual and compound disasters, including rock bursts, mining-induced seismicity, and gas outbursts. Specifically, force source control, combined with the collaborative weakening of overburden structures, allows strong rock pressure and intense energy release to be effectively curbed; the gas drainage efficiency is increased by several to dozens of times; and the energy release mode of mining-induced seismicity is shifted from low frequency and high energy to high frequency and low energy. Presently, the regional fracturing technology still faces technical bottlenecks in the research and development of intelligent equipment, accurate fracture characterization, and quantitative traceability of disaster prevention and control effects. Future research should focus on data-driven and deep learning-empowered intelligent fracturing, digital twin-based fracture visualization, and the quantitative traceability of fracturing performance. These efforts are expected to provide theoretical support and a technical reference for the precise prevention and control of deep coal-rock dynamic disasters.