What is the primary reason for the merger of UNAVCO and IRIS into the EarthScope Consortium? Additionally, explain how the understanding of strong ground motion during future Cascadia earthquakes has changed due to research on 'Episodic Tremor and Slip,' and identify the lead author and year of the publication cited for this finding.
Identify the reason for the merger of UNAVCO and IRIS into the EarthScope Consortium from the homepage. Navigate to the 'Science' section. Click on 'Episodic Tremor and Slip'. Locate and extract the description of how the probable region of strong ground motion extends. Identify and extract the lead author and year of the Abers et al. 2009 publication.
State that the merger aims to 'support research and education as a single organization to conduct and advance cutting-edge geophysics' because 'science becomes more convergent'. State that the probable region of strong ground motion during future earthquakes extends 'significantly further inland than had been thought, closer to the large population centers of Cascadia'. Identify 'Abers' as the lead author and '2009' as the publication year for the cited work.