OKLAHOMA CITY — Two earthquakes this year in Oklahoma greater than magnitude 5.0 — including a record-setting quake last weekend that damaged more than a dozen buildings — are expected to increase the likelihood of a more violent quake in the future, a top earthquake researcher said Wednesday.

The earthquake centered in northeast Oklahoma on Saturday was upgraded to magnitude 5.8 by the US Geological Survey on Wednesday, making it the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the state. It was the second earthquake exceeding magnitude 5.0 recorded in Oklahoma this year, which likely will increase the chances of a more powerful quake to come, said USGS geophysicist Daniel McNamara.

‘‘You’ve had two 5s this year, which means a lot more energy,’’ McNamara said during a break in a seismicity workshop in Norman that attracted some of the top earthquake researchers from across the country.

A 5.1-magnitude quake was reported in February near the town of Fairview in northwest Oklahoma. The previous strongest recorded quake in Oklahoma was a 5.6-magnitude temblor in 2011, which also was upgraded Wednesday to a 5.7-magnitude quake.

The revisions were based on further analysis of recordings of seismic activity, the USGS said in a statement.

The uptick in earthquakes in Oklahoma over the last five years has been linked to the high-pressure injection of oil and gas waste water deep underground, although researchers say it’s too early to tell what may have caused Saturday’s quake, which was located much further east than most of the previous quakes in Oklahoma.

As a result of the increase in seismic activity in Oklahoma, state oil and gas regulators have ordered hundreds of disposal wells to either shut down or reduce the amount of waste water they are injecting. About 54 wells in a 725-square-mile area near Saturday’s quake were ordered shut down by state and federal regulators.