In the southwest region of China， the construction of highways has resulted in the formation of many cutting slopes due to the special terrain conditions of the region. Therefore， the stability of highway cutting slopes under earthquake conditions has be? come a critical issue in the stability evaluation of highway engineering. In this research， the acceleration response of stepped bed? ding rock slopes is analyzed by conducting large-scale shaking table tests， and the seismic response of each platform is investigated. A ratio of acceleration amplification factor is proposed to characterize the differences in dynamic responses of various slope patterns and analyzes the seismic wave propagation in the slope using Snell’s law. The test reveals that the acceleration amplification factor of the slope exhibits an elevation amplification effect as the amplitude of the excitation increases. When the excitation amplitude ex? ceeds 0.6g， the continuous accumulation of slope shattering damage and the enhancement of the filtering effect lead to a leveling off of the acceleration amplification factor with increasing elevation. Besides， slopes with uniform step width demonstrate better aseis? mic performance， while stress concentration is more likely to occur at the corners of each step， making them as key fortification sites. The analysis of the monitored acceleration data is consistent with the model damage patterns recorded by a high-speed camera during the shaking table tests. Based on the cumulative shattering damage process of the slope， four stages of damage are identi?fied： shallow creep （0.1g~0.4g）， local tension （0.4g~0.6g）， accelerated deformation （0.6g~0.8g）， and overall instability （0.8g~1.0g）， exhibiting a slip-tensile damage mode. The research findings provide essential theoretical support and technical guid? ance for understanding the shattering damage mechanism and seismic fortification of rock slopes with complex formations and geo? logical structures， and offer a reference for disaster prevention and mitigation measures for stepped bedding rock slopes in mountain? ous areas.fied： shallow creep （0.1g~0.4g）， local tension （0.4g~0.6g）， accelerated deformation （0.6g~0.8g）， and overall instability （0.8g~1.0g）， exhibiting a slip-tensile damage mode. The research findings provide essential theoretical support and technical guid? ance for understanding the shattering damage mechanism and seismic fortification of rock slopes with complex formations and geo? logical structures， and offer a reference for disaster prevention and mitigation measures for stepped bedding rock slopes in mountain? ous areas.